


Junior Year

by solargold



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Absent Parents, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Anger Management, Anorexia, Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, Babies, Babysitting, Birthday Parties, Boarding School, Breakups, Death in Childbirth, Depression, F/F, F/M, Friends to Lovers, HOOOOO BOY HERE WE GO, Happy Ending, House Party, Illegal Activities, Mentions of Mental Hospitals, Moving In With Friends, Rating May Change, Recovery, Sharing Clothes, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, Strangers to Lovers, Tattoos, Teen Pregnancy, Underage Drinking, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Violence against Children, anger issues, but not between the main characters, ill put trigger warnings at the beginning of each chapter, im sorry because personally i hate reading angst but i love writing it so ajfkdfakjf, nothing major tho, public school, this is gonna be some depressin ass shit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-06
Updated: 2019-01-13
Packaged: 2019-06-06 01:56:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 22
Words: 28,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15184223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/solargold/pseuds/solargold
Summary: Sapphire Marie Froide is juggling a lot of things. Passing junior year, less than optimal parents, unhealthy coping mechanisms, a friend expecting a child, and this cute girl she met a music festival. Add another ounce of weight and she'd probably crumble under it all. So what happens when it does?*on hiatus until further notice*





	1. June Nights

**Author's Note:**

> Eyyyyy here we go bois. Im assuming you read the tags and saw that this isnt a happy fic, but in case you didnt, welcome to angst town. The rating may be subject to change, depends how depressing this gets. Anyway, there isnt anything SUPER triggering in this chapter, but I am going to put a warning for very, VERY slightly implied anorexia. Its just a mention of body dysmorphia at the beginning though, so its not anything awful. I'm not going to put a summary for this one because its the introduction chapter and its kinda important that you actually read it. 
> 
> tumblr: not-a-machine

Sapphire was about to be a junior in high school when her life changed forever. It was dusk on a June day when she stepped out of a freezing cold shower. Sighing, she walked to the mirror, and stood to take a look at herself, not that she thought anything had changed in her appearance since she did this thirteen minutes ago before her shower. She just sort of, felt like she had to. 

 

Same dark skin. Same icy blue braids, except they were now sopping wet as they fell to her waist. Same brown eye. Same bright blue glass eye. Same cracked lips and same tired face. Same wildly disproportionate body. 

 

Well, she knew logically that her body didn’t look like that. But dysmorphia was a bitch, and the fact that she knew the mirror was lying to her didn’t change anything. Sighing once again, she put on the pair of underwear, and the oversized white t-shirt that she had brought with her to the bathroom. She reached for a hair tie when her phone rang. 

 

Picking it up, she saw it was a facetime request from her friend, Pearl. And Pearl never facetimed anybody, which meant she was with her best friend, Rose. Sapphire accepted the call, propping her phone up on the counter while she sectioned her hair off into three sections. 

 

“Sapphire!” She heard Rose excitedly greet her. As Sapphire glanced at the screen, she noticed Rose looked like she was about to go out. Her brown curls were pulled up in a ponytail, her recently dyed pink tips matching the color of her crop top perfectly. She was also wearing a pair of dark colored overall shorts, which she often wore, considering she was very pregnant. She was sitting in the background, doing her makeup on the floor of Pearl’s bedroom. 

 

“Hello Rose!” She greeted back. “And Pearl, how are you?” 

 

“Oh! I’ve been good! Rose and I were just preparing to head out to a small music event being held tonight.” Pearl responded. Sapphire noticed Pearl was wearing her favorite dress, a simple periwinkle sundress. She also had her pixie cut curled as best as possible, which Sapphire assumed was the doing of Rose. 

 

“Rose, are you sure it’s a good idea to go out when you’re supposed to be giving birth in a month?” Sapphire asked, braiding her hair. 

 

“It’ll be fine Sapphire. Also, Greg is playing and I promised him I’d come, and bring a few friends!” Rose finished up her makeup, walking up and sitting next to Pearl to be closer to the screen. “Speaking of, I wanted to invite you to come with us tonight! You haven’t gone out in ages! There will be food, music, and most importantly, I have a friend playing that I’d like you to meet!” Rose flopped down on the bed. Pearl laughed at that, and Sapphire couldn’t help but giggle too. Rose was a very expressive person. 

 

“Who else is going to be there?” Sapphire asked. Rose liked to organize big group outings, but Sapphire wasn’t the hugest fan of crowds, so she wanted to see if she could handle it before she agreed to go. 

 

“Well, Pearl and I are going, obviously. Lapis and Peridot are selling some of their art pieces, so while they’ll be at the venue we won’t really see them most of the time. Greg, my big sister Blue, and my friend Ruby are playing! It’s not that big of a crowd, I promise. It’s just a small event, so come with us, pleaseeeee?” Rose gave puppy dog eyes to her and Sapphire couldn’t resist. 

 

“Okay, I’ll be there. Text me the address and what time you want me there.”

 

“Nonsense! We’ll take you! It’ll be fun! And we can go get milkshakes afterwards!” Rose smiled, visually glad she had convinced Sapphire to leave the house. 

 

“Rose, I can drive, it’s fine.” Sapphire protested. 

 

“Come on Sapphire, we all miss you.” Pearl prodded. 

 

“Fine, you know I can’t resist it when you tag team me like that. What time are you picking me up?”

 

“In 45 minutes? Is that good?” Rose asked. 

 

“Of course, I’ll see you then!” Sapphire smiled at the camera, before ending the call. Well. She guessed she was going out. That was something she hadn’t done in a long time. Taking out her braid, she plugged in her hair dryer, and began tackling the challenge that was blow drying her hair. Luckily, the universe seemed to be on her side, and that only took about 10 minutes. 

 

Walking out of her bathroom and into her bedroom, she flopped on her bed and mentally psyched herself up for a few minutes before getting up and getting ready. She guessed the dress code by what Rose and Pearl were wearing, so she got up and rifled through her closet to look for some of her nice casual clothes. Most of what Sapphire wore was skinny jeans and sweaters, t-shirts in the summer, but she figured she should put at least a little effort into her appearance. 

 

After searching for a while, she found the first outfit she could and stuck with it. A simple gray skater skirt, a wide necked light blue t-shirt, and a dark blue bralette. Pulling it on, she turned to go look in the mirror. The shirt looked a little weird, so she tucked it into the skirt, and that seemed to solve the problem. With that fixed, it was a good outfit. The skirt cinched in at the waist which gave her some form of shape, and the lace straps of the bralette tied the whole thing together. Satisfied, she walked to her vanity and began doing her makeup. 

 

She just wanted to do something simple, it wasn’t like it was a formal event but Sapphire didn’t want to look dead. She applied some concealer under her eyes to conceal the ridiculous bags, and then took her eyeliner, doing a simple wing before leaving it. She did apply some false lashes, just to make it look like she tried harder than she actually did. Finally, she put on some highlighter, and a dark purple lipstick. While she waited for it to dry down, she did her hair, opting to pull it in a high ponytail, then braiding the ponytail. Finally, she took her contact out of her good eye, and put on her black glasses. She was lucky that they were able to save one of her eyes, but the eye that did work still wasn’t the best. In fact it was pretty bad. 

 

She heard a car roll up into the driveway, then a honk, so she grabbed her phone and threw on a random pair of converse, before running to meet up with her friends. The house was empty, as usual. She always felt pretty lonely, living in a mansion with no one but her and her parents, but the fact that her parents were barely ever home made it worse. She sprinted down three flights of stairs before reaching the ground floor, and after walking through three sitting rooms, two lounges, and the main living room, she finally found herself in the main hall, opening the front door, she was almost immediately scooped up into Rose’s arms. 

 

“Sapphire! Oh I’m so glad you decided to come with us! I’ve missed you!” Rose spun Sapphire around once before finally setting her down. While Rose was ungodly tall at 6’5”, Sapphire was pretty short, only 4’7”. So hugs were always a little weird. 

 

“Hello Rose!” Sapphire smiled up at her. “And hello Steven.” She laughed, face to face with Rose’s baby bump.

 

“Sapphire!” Pearl bent down to hug her, although this hug was a lot shorter that her hug with Rose. While Rose was an exception, Sapphire wasn’t the biggest fan of physical interaction. 

 

“Pearl! It’s so good to see you guys!” She smiled, and for the first time in a while, Sapphire felt happy. Fuck her mental illnesses, she needed to get out more often. 

 

“Well, are you ready?” Rose asked, stars in her eyes. 

 

“Of course!” Sapphire smiled, and they all piled in the car. It was Rose’s car, so she drove, and Pearl rode shotgun. Sapphire hopped in the back, smiling to see her pillow was already there for her. Due to her weight and height, and the fact that she was a minor, she legally was supposed to be wearing a booster seat, but that was embarrassing, so she just sat on a pillow most of the time. Not that the police cared. 

 

After a ten minute drive they pulled up to the beach parking lot, and looking out Sapphire could see a stage set up, and some booths selling food, clothes, art, and most other festival things. Getting out of the car, Sapphire was immediately hit with the sea breeze, and reveled in it. The air felt nice. 

 

“Well, we’re here. What do you wanna do first?” Rose asked. 


	2. Of Food Stands and Sad Songs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They eat some food, watch the show, and go talk to Blue at intermission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> eyyy so im technically not supposed to be on my laptop (i got chores n shit) but my mom went to go smoke a cigarette so im posting this real quick while shes outside. anyways, again, this chapter only has some implied anorexia, but its nothing bad. also, off topic, but happy friday the thirteenth yall!
> 
> tumblr: not-a-machine

Sapphire had to admit, something like this was exactly what she had needed. She knew she locked herself up, and she knew it was bad, but being lonely and sad was safer than being social and scared. While she felt the all too familiar nerves in her stomach, and she was shaking and her hands were clamming up, she really needed to leave her house more often. As she walked down the beach with Rose and Pearl, she stared absentmindedly at the different booths, trying her best to focus on the conversation, although it was hard. Eventually, they stopped at a small taco stand. 

 

“Guys!” Rose exclaimed. “Let’s get tacos!” 

 

“If that’s what you want.” Pearl responded. “You good with that Sapphire?”

 

“Huh? Oh, yeah, of course.” She snapped out of her own head to look up at the two. 

 

“Perfect!” Rose smiled. Sapphire spared a glance to Pearl, who was very obviously smitten. She hoped she was doing okay, considering Rose was literally having someone else’s child. As they walked up the the register, they started deciding on what they wanted. 

 

“I’ll order for all of us” Pearl ordered, trying to save Sapphire from her own anxiety as subtle as possible. “What do you all want?” She asked the group. 

 

“I’d like number 3 meal, and the taco bowl, no tomatoes please!” Rose replied. 

 

“Got it, and you Sapphire?”

 

“I’ll, uh, I’ll just have a water” The restaurant didn’t have nutritional information, besides, this kind of food was ridiculously high calorie. 

 

“Sapphire, you’re going to be so hungry if you don’t eat dinner.” Rose interjected. 

 

“I ate before I got here.” She lied. She felt guilty lying to her friends, but Rose was stressed enough. She didn’t want to add more burden.

 

“Okay then!” Rose smiled at her, and then it was their turn. Pearl ordered, and then the total came back. Those places always had a crazy high price. 

 

“I’ll pay.” Sapphire offered. 

 

“Sapphire you’re not even getting any food, let me pay” Rose offered as well. 

 

“Rose, you’re having a baby. Let me treat you.” Before Rose could object Sapphire opened up the back of her phone case, grabbing her credit card before swiping it into the machine and signing. While the receipt printed, she put her card back. 

“Thank you Sapphire.” Pearl smiled at her, handing Sapphire the receipt. 

 

“Do you mind holding the receipt, I don’t have pockets. And, it was no problem” She smiled at her friends, before sitting down at a nearby bench and waiting for their order to be called. As soon as they sat down, Rose was back up again. 

 

“I’m going to go grab us programs! Stay right here!” And with that she was off. Sapphire figured this was a perfect time to talk to Pearl. 

 

“Sapphire I-”

 

“Pearl are-” Sapphire stopped, as she and Pearl both started at the same time. “I’m sorry, you can go first.”

 

“No, no, go ahead.” Pearl offered. Sapphire and Pearl both went to the same etiquette school, so their training kicked in instinctually. 

 

“Well if you insist. Pearl, are you okay? It’s obvious you’re still totally smitten over Rose.” Sapphire started. 

 

“Well, how could I not be? You never get over your first love, you know?” Pearl sighed. 

 

“Actually, I don’t.” Sapphire sighed. 

 

“You’ll find the perfect girl eventually Sapphire. And if you’re luckier than me she’ll see you as more than a best friend. That’s actually the main reason Rose wanted to take you with us. Her friend Ruby thats performing? She’s been talking about how Ruby is ‘totally your type.’ Don’t tell her about this, I wasn’t supposed to tell you.” Pearl smiled sheepishly. 

 

“Enough about me.” Sapphire brought the conversation back on track. “You’re in love with this girl, and she’s having Greg’s kid. How are you holding up?”

 

“It’s been...difficult. But she’s still my best friend, and I’m still going to support her through everything. And when the excitement wears off and she realizes spontaneously dating near strangers isn’t a good idea, I’ll be here. Or when she realizes that she wants to spend the rest of her life with Greg, I’ll be there.”

 

“She needs a friend like you Pearl. You balance each other out, you’re too structured and she’s too spontaneous.”

 

“We do go together quite well, don’t we.” She gave a small laugh, and Sapphire could tell that she felt a little better. 

 

“You do.” Sapphire smiled. And suddenly Rose was back with three paper programs in hand. 

 

“I’m back!” She smiled at them. A worker called out their order number, and Pearl got up to get their food. Meanwhile, Sapphire and Rose flipped through the programs. 

 

“Look! Greg is the second song of the night!” She excitedly pointed to the program, showing Sapphire even though she had her own copy in her hands. Pearl returned, and Sapphire took a slow sip of her water. 

 

“My friend Ruby is closing the night, how nice!” Rose smiled, showing the program to Pearl with one hand, while she ate with the other. 

 

“Yes, I haven’t seen Ruby in a long time, I wonder how she’s doing.” Pearl absentmindedly said, taking a bite of her salad. 

 

“What about you Sapphire?” Rose asked. “Is there anyone on the set list you’re excited to see?”

 

“Well, seeing Greg is always nice. And I am curious about your friend Ruby.” Sapphire answered honestly, finishing the last of her bottle. “And your sister has a soothing voice, even though I’d be happy to never talk to her again.”

 

“Honestly sameeee” Rose leaned back. “Pretty much my whole family gave up on me after I got pregnant with Steven. I suppose it’s only right that I go talk to Blue afterwards though.”

 

“Are you sure about that? They all get pretty hostile whenever you’re around them.” Pearl questioned

 

“It’ll be worse if I don’t talk to her.” Rose deadpanned. 

 

“Good point.” Pearl said. “Anyways, I suppose we should be heading over soon.”

 

“We should!” Rose smiled, the light returning to her eyes. “Greg got us front row seats!”

 

“How nice of him.” Sapphire commented. Watching the show would be better. They wouldn’t be talking, she could sit and enjoy the music for an hour, make up an excuse to get out of milkshakes, then go home and go to bed. 

 

“At intermission we need to visit Peridot and Lapis.” Pearl reminded them. 

 

“Of course! I wouldn’t miss their art show for the world!” Rose smiled at Pearl, and Sapphire could tell that she almost died then and there. They walked to the front row, until they arrived at three seats labeled. “For the Party of Pink Rosaline Quartz-Diamond.”

 

“I don’t know why they insist on using my full name.” Rose commented before sitting down. 

 

“It doesn’t matter!” Pearl tried to cheer her up. “Here, they show’s going to start soon, let’s watch!”

 

“Yes, let’s watch” Sapphire agreed. She wanted to cheer up Rose, even if her anxiety was getting worse and worse by the second. She was painfully reminded as to why she never went out. And she didn’t even have a sweatshirt to hide in this time around. Luckily for her, the first performer went on stage and started singing. Apparently they performers were only allowed one song each to best showcase their talents. Greg did a really good acoustic song about the terrors of becoming a father, and Blue sang a sad song about...Sapphire didn’t really know what it was about, but she knew there were way too many depressing lyrics crammed in with a soft piano backing. As much as Sapphire personally hated Blue, she knew how to sing. Then came intermission. 

 

“Well, we have two things we need to do this intermission. Go say hello to Blue, and go check out Lapis and Peridot’s art exhibit.” Pearl stated, ever the planner. 

 

“Lets go talk to Blue first, get it over with.” Rose stated. She stopped and took a deep breath. Her whole ensemble was everything the Diamond family stood against. And Sapphire should know, she had spent far too many business parties with them, far too many formal dinners. That was where she had actually met Rose, they would sneak off and actually do something interesting during these business events. As they walked up to Blue’s booth, they noticed it reflected her personality very well. Bland and formal. Her merch was simple, black t-shirts with a navy blue diamond printed on the front, and black hoodies with the diamond on the back. She sat behind the booth, obviously not wanting to be there. Sapphire wondered why she was even there performing, when she normally sang for obnoxious rich people events. Sapphire wondered why she was selling merch. 

 

“Blue. Hello” Rose greeted, unusually cold. 

 

“Hello Pink. Still pregnant, I see.” She only spared them a glance. 

 

“Yes, Steven will be born next month.”

 

“I don’t care.” She could see something change in Rose’s eyes, she knew Rose cared so much about Steven, and the fact that Blue was acting so coldly was hurting her. 

 

“Well, good, because Steven is going to grow up never knowing he’s part of the Diamond family, and he’s going to have a childhood of love, something we never got!” And then Pearl pulled her away grabbing her hand and walking off. 

 

“She makes me so... angry!” Rose yelled at no one in particular. 

 

“I know.” Sapphire comforted. “Let’s go visit Lapis and Peridot, okay?”

 

“Okay” Rose sighed, and they walked to the exhibit. 


	3. Ruby Red

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group meets up with Lapis and Peridot, and Sapphire finally meets Ruby!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> eyyyy it’s update day! i’m gonna say now that there’s definitely spelling + grammar mistakes in this one, i’m currently on vacation so i just sorta have to upload this and go. i’m also posting this from my phone instead of my laptop, so let me know if there’s any formatting issues. i have one more update scheduled to go out while in on vacation, but once i’m home i’ll fix the mistakes. anyways, i think that’s all!
> 
> tumblr: not-a-machine

Lapis and Peridot were your textbook art lesbians. They shared a studio apartment, and lived off of their artwork. As they walked through the exhibit, they looked for Lapis and Peridot, and found them at a small desk, with body paints around them.

 

“Rose, Sapphire, Pearl, Hey!” Peridot called out to them, waving. Lapis and Peridot were both wearing the exact same, black berets, tan painters coats (covered in paints) and black leggings. That was their thing, they loved matching.

 

“Hey!” Rose smiled, waving back before running up. “Whatcha guys doing?”

 

“Oh! We’re doing free body painting to help advertise our art, want anything done?”

 

“Why not?” Pearl asked. “We still have about fifteen minutes until intermission is over.”

 

“Wonderful!” Lapis smiled at them. “Sit down!” Rose took the chair in front of Peridot, and Pearl sat next to her in front of Lapis. Sapphire was still deciding if she wanted paint, so she waited while her friends got theirs done.

 

“What would you like?” Peridot asked Rose.

 

“Oh! I’d like something on my stomach, for Steven!” Rose exclaimed, unbuttoning her overalls. The fact that she had worn a crop top underneath had gone perfectly.

 

“I know exactly what to do!” Peridot smiled before getting to work. Looking over towards Lapis, she saw that she was drawing a Pearl on Pearl’s forehead.

 

“What?” She asked. “I thought it was fitting.”

 

“Speaking of, isn’t it kind of weird that we’re all named after gems?” Sapphire asked Lapis. Lapis and her got along very well, but every since she started dating Peridot they didn’t see each other as often. Although, Sapphire completely understood, and it hadn’t put a damper on their relationship.

 

“I looked it up actually, apparently gem themed names were very popular within the few years that we were all born. I was curious about that too.” Lapis gave her a small smile before turning to Pearl. “It’s done.”

 

“Oh! Thank you!” Pearl smiled, before getting up. “Sapphire, you should get something done!”

 

“Alright.” Sapphire sat down. “Although, it had to be something small, my parents would kill me if they noticed something too flamboyant.”

 

“I have just the thing.” Lapis smiled as Sapphire sat down. “So Sapphire, how’s life been treating ya?”

 

“You know, same old.” She responded, as Lapis grabbed toward her hand and turned it over.

 

“Have you gone to the one place I recommended to you?” She asked, tossing her long blue hair over one shoulder before grabbing a paint brush.

 

“No, I haven’t” Sapphire admitted as Lapis started painting.

 

“Sapphire, they get it, I promise. They really helped me when I was struggling like you. Reaching for help doesn’t make you weak.”

 

“Lapis, you say that every time” Sapphire smiled at her.

 

“It’s true though. Come hang out sometime, Peridot’s been spending a lot of time with amethyst, and I miss you.” Lapis offered, spraying the protective coat over Sapphire’s hand. When she looked down, she saw a dark blue sapphire painted on her palm.

 

“I thought it was fitting. A sapphire for Sapphire.” Lapis explained.

 

“I love it, thank you.” Sapphire gave Lapis a small smile before getting up, Rose’s paint almost finished. Sapphire could have laughed, it seemed as if Peridot had the same idea as the rest of them. She had painted a rose quartz on Rose’s stomach, and surrounded it with a golden star.

 

“It’s a golden star, because Steven is the star of Rose’s life!” Peridot exclaimed.

 

“Oh! It’s perfect!” Rose smiled. “Thank you two so much!”

 

“You’re welcome.” Lapis said. “You guys should probably head back to the stage now.

 

“Yes, we probably should.” Pearl agreed. “Hang out with us more often, okay?”

 

“We will!” Peridot smiled at them, and then they left, settling back into their seats. Sapphire didn’t care much for most of the music in the second act, but finally, they had reached the finale.

 

“Ruby is playing now!” Rose leaned over to Sapphire, whispering excitedly.

 

“I’m excited” Sapphire whispered back, and she was. Seeing Lapis was exactly what she had needed for her rising anxiety. Lapis understood better than anyone else in Sapphire’s life. She spoke in soft deliberate tones, squeezed just the right pressure points on her hand while she worked, and said just the right things to calm her down. Sapphire supposed it was obvious that she understood, they bonded over the fact that they were going through the same thing.

Sapphire’s mind shut off when she heard a soft guitar melody play. Looking up, she saw one of the most attractive women she had ever seen in her life. Ruby had a brown afro which stuck up in every imaginable direction, but was pushed out of her face by a red ribbon. Freckled dotted her face and shoulders. Her black tank top showed off her muscles, and she was wearing a pair of maroon cargo pants that suited her perfectly. Her brown eyes scanned the crowd, before she strummed her guitar and started singing.

 

“This old, Ruby rider, is Ruby ridin’ aloneee” She sang. And Sapphire understood what Pearl meant when you looked at someone and you just sort of knew that they were someone you wanted in your life. As Ruby continued singing, the soft folk music hitting her ears, Sapphire was thinking of a way to tell her that Ruby was someone she wanted to become close with, without being creepy. Although, Pearl had said Rose considered Ruby her type, and Rose was usually pretty good about those sorts of things. After the song, Sapphire clapped, and Rose gave her a knowing look, although she didn’t see it.

 

“I, uhm, I’m going to go check out Ruby’s booth. I really enjoyed her music.” Sapphire explained, walking off before they could ask for any further explanation. Looking up at the setting sun, Sapphire smiled to herself. She wondered if Ruby had put her music on spotify. Spotting her booth, she walked up and took a look. Ruby had some merch as well, t-shirts with her latest album cover on it, which was named after the single she sang earlier. Besides Ruby Rider, she seemed to have another album, titled Entirely New, and an EP, titled R. Ruby (Self Titled).

 

“You must be new. I try to get to know most people that come to these events.” Sapphire looked up and saw no other that Ruby trying to talk to her.

 

“Oh! Uhm, yes, my friends Rose and Pearl brought me with them tonight.” She answered, feeling her face heating up.

 

“You must be Sapphire! I’ve heard so much about you!” Ruby said.

 

“Only good things I hope. Rose has been mentioning all night about how I should introduce myself. So, I’m Sapphire Marie Froide.” Sapphire smiled, holding out her hand for Ruby to shake.

 

“Ramona Ruby Chaudeh. But most people know me as Ruby.” Ruby shook her hand.

 

“Sapphire! I see you’ve met Ruby!” Rose ran up. “Hello Ruby!”

 

“Hey Rose, how you been? How’s Greg been, I haven’t seen him in a while.”

 

“Oh, Greg’s wonderful! He’s so excited for Steven to be born.” Rose answered.

 

“Isn’t everyone?” Ruby answered, smiling, “Pearl, how have you been?”

 

“I’ve been doing alright. How about you Ruby?”

 

“Anger management classes are going really well! I haven’t had an outburst in a week now!”

 

“That’s good!” Rose smiled. “Progress! Well, Pearl, Sapphire, and I were going to go get milkshakes after this, wanna come with?”

 

“I’d love to, but I need to be home by 11:30, I gotta meet my landlord and pay rent.”

 

“Maybe next time” Pearl said. “Sapphire, are you ready to go?”

 

“Actually, I have a stomach ache” Sapphire lied for the second time that night. “I’ll call an uber, you two go without me.” She smiled at them.

 

“Sapphire, an uber is going to be so expensive this late at night!” Rose protested.

 

“I can take her, if you want.” Ruby offered shyly. “I only rented this booth for 20 minutes anyways, so I should really be packing up soon.”

 

“I’ll help you. Thank you, by the way.” Sapphire smiled.

 

“Okay then. Text me when you get home, okay Sapphire?” Rose asked.

 

“Of course.” Sapphire responded, and then they we’re gone.

 

“Pearl is in over her head, isn’t she” Ruby commented, packing her unsold t-shirts into a box.


	4. Car Rides/ Confrontations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby drives Sapphire home, and Sapphire has a conversation with her family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay sooOOOO
> 
> 1\. i’m pretty busy rn, since i’m flying home tomorrow, i almost forgot to upload this  
> 2\. i got back to school in about a week (august 2nd) and i’m not happy about it. first of all, who the fuck decided to start school on a thursday, and secondly, ill be writing less often. that being said, i’m going to try and stockpile chapters for you all  
> 3\. i just wrote chapters 7 and 8 the other day, and i just wanted to apologize in advance
> 
> i think that’s all! again, this is being uploaded from my phone instead of my laptop, so please tell me if theres formatting issues! enjoy the chapter!
> 
> tumblr: not-a-machine

Sapphire smiled at Ruby, sitting down on the plastic table as Ruby went to go throw away the disposable tablecloth.

 

“Yes, Pearl’s been taking this hard. I can’t imagine what it’s like, being in love that badly only for them to love someone else.” Sapphire looked up at the night sky as Ruby finished packing up her things. They sat in a comfortable silence for a while, before suddenly a leather jacket was draped over Sapphire’s shoulders.

 

“You looked cold.” Ruby explained, kicking the sand as her face flushed up. “And I run warm so it wasn’t like I was going to wear it.” She looked down, nervously rubbing her hands together.

 

“Thank you Ruby.” Sapphire smiled and giggled. The scent of the jacket was so..Ruby. It smelled of smoke and firewood, slightly of oil. She could already tell that Ruby was someone that she clicked with.

 

“Well, you ready to go?” Ruby asked, extending her hand to help Sapphire down from the table. Sapphire took it, and walked down the beach hand in hand with Ruby. The only people left were the other performers also packing up their things. It was about 10:30, it was no surprise that most people were more than ready to go home. They stepped into the parking lot, and Ruby lead Sapphire to an old looking truck.

 

“Ruby! This is such a cool car!” Sapphire had always wanted a truck, but her parents insisted that she only drove high end cars, to reflect that fact that they were supposed to be a high end family.

 

“Really? It’s just some old cheap truck. Not much special about it.”

 

“Are you kidding me? It’s awesome!” Sapphire completely disregarded her years of training to be a “proper lady” and acted her age for once. Sapphire rarely allowed herself to get rid of her self made boundaries and be herself. While normally it was scary for her to let loose, something about Ruby’s presence made her feel comfortable.

 

“If you insist.” Ruby smiled, and hopped in the truck, Sapphire taking the passenger seat. Ruby passed her a pillow to sit on, and considering her height Sapphire assumed Ruby was also victim to the stupid booster seat laws. After they got settled, Ruby put the key in, and the truck roared to life, music flowing through the speakers.

 

“Sorry about that.” Ruby went to change the disk. “I was playing some of my old demos earlier, driving usually helps me to work out some of the issues.”

 

“No, keep them on!” Sapphire prodded “I want to hear more of your music, it’s good!” Sapphire smiled, guiding Ruby’s hand back to the steering wheel.

 

“If you insist.” Ruby continued driving, before stopping suddenly in the middle of the road. “Wait, where do you live.”

 

“43569 Court Drive.” Sapphire answered. “I know the way, if you need instructions.”

 

“Court Drive? Isn’t that a road full of mega-mansions?”

 

“Yeah, it’s pretty ridiculous. Most of the time it’s not that many people living in them, I don’t see the point.” Sapphire responded. She knew she had been adopted into a life of luxury, but that didn’t mean she understood the lavish lifestyle.  

 

“Well if you got the money, flaunt it.” Ruby reasoned. “I take walks in that neighborhood sometimes, it’s near my dad’s house.”

 

“Come visit me sometime then!” Sapphire smiled at her, and they once again returned to silence, before Sapphire formed a question.

 

“When you write music, what do you usually write about?” Sapphire asked. Most of Ruby’s lyrics were about heartbreak, and she was curious as to where Ruby drew her inspiration.

 

“Music is an escape from life, it’s a form of art where I can just, get things off my chest. Even if a song never sees the light of day, working on it helps. Anyways, R. Ruby was about my life growing up, hence why I self titled it. Entirely New was about the girlfriend I had at the time, I thought she was perfect for me, but we had a huge falling out. Turns out she was just using me to get a leg up in the music industry, because that was when I got signed to a record label. Ruby Rider is about me dealing with heartbreak. I really thought she was the one, you know? I was planning to propose when I found out she didn’t actually care about me. Oh, sorry, I’m rambling.” Ruby apologized.

 

“No, no, I like hearing you talk. You’re good to talk to.” Sapphire smiled as they pulled into the driveway.

 

“Here, wanna exchange phone numbers?” Ruby asked, holding her phone out. Sapphire nodded and grabbed the phone, unlocking hers before handing it to Ruby. She opened the contacts app, snapped a quick selfie (although the lighting wasn’t too good), put in her phone number, and titled the contact “sapphire”. Handing the phone back to Ruby, she took hers to check the contact.

 

Ruby :p. It went against Sapphire’s whole simple lowercase aesthetic, but it suited Ruby so well, she couldn’t help but leave it.

 

“Text me sometime.” Sapphire smiled, handing Ruby her jacket back. “And thanks for driving me home, you're really cool”

 

“It’s no problem, you’re pretty cool too.” Ruby said, and Sapphire got out of the car, walking toward the front door. She smiled to herself, that was one of the best nights of her life. Until she went to go to her bedroom, and was stopped by a voice behind her.

 

“Sarafina.” Her mother’s voice alone was enough for her to straighten her back, neutralize the expression on her face. Sapphire turned around, and faced her parents.

 

“Yes ma’am?” She asked, keeping her head slightly lowered. It was all instinctual. If she kept them happy it was a lot better for her in the long run.

 

“We wish to speak with you.” His father answered, before turning and returning to the main living room, her mother following after. It was only once they had entered the room that Sapphire walked in after them. She went and stood next to the couch across from them, where they were both sitting, staring at her.

 

“You may sit.” Her mother said. Sapphire sat, making sure her posture was perfect.

 

“Where were you tonight. Who were you with. Who drove you home. Why did you allow yourself to be driven in such a low class car.” Her father phrased the questions more like demands.

 

“I went to a music festival at the beach with Ro-Pink, and Pearl. Ruby, a performer at the event and Pink’s friend drove me home. I allowed myself to ride in that car because Ruby offered to take me home, and it would be rude to decline.” Sapphire answered truthfully, but tried to phrase it so that her parents would be pleased. She figured telling them “I went to a mini-concert and went home with this girl because I thought she was cute and I wanted to talk to her.” wouldn’t be a good answer.

 

“Well, at least you bothered to put a little bit of effort into your outfit this time. Don’t do that again, you know it looks bad for us to be socializing with the lower class.” Her father scoffed.

 

“With respect, Ruby and I have already made plans to meet up soon in the future.”

 

“I see. Well, I’ll just have to judge her for myself. We are hosting a buisness event two nights from tonight. You are to invite Ruby, and we will judge if you may continue to talk with her.” Her mother explained.

 

“Yes ma’am.”

 

“You are dismissed, Sarafina.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

Well, Sapphire supposed she needed to go to her room and text Ruby.


	5. Try On

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heya! so first of all, i’m sorry that this chapter is being posted a little later in the day than usual, but i started school again yesterday. if you’re interested in how my first day went i’ll talk about it in the end notes. you guys also might’ve noticed that’s ive changed my username! ive been some variation of not-a-machine on all my platforms except this one for about half a year now, so i finally changed the username here. i’ve also added more tags, as i’m currently writing chapter 12. with school starting up again, i might be updating later in the day, so i suggest you guys get used to this
> 
> enjoy!
> 
> tumblr: not-a-machine

Sapphire got to her room, sitting down and face planting on the bed before grabbing her phone. Would it be weird to text Ruby right after she just left? Sapphire usually didn’t get someone’s number unless they were close and she understood what was acceptable, but she didn’t know with Ruby. She had just met her that night, but it felt like they had known each other for ages. She felt comfortable with Ruby, she felt like she could be herself. After thinking for a while, she took off her makeup, put her pajamas back on, and went straight to bed.  She decided she’d text Ruby later.

 

It seemed Ruby had beat her to it. She woke up at around 11 am the next day with a handful of notifications on her almost dead phone. Plugging it in, she took a look, scrolling through the notifications.

 

lapis: sapph, i know ur sort of in denial, but you should go with me to group therapy sometime. it really helps, promise. ill treat u to lunch and everything. we should hang out more anyways

 

rose: Last night was so much fun! I hope your stomach ache feels better! <3

 

She took a moment to respond to those few messages. She told Lapis she’d think about it even though they both knew that she wouldn’t, and she assured Rose that she was feeling better. She then went to the notifications that excited her the most

 

Ruby :p: Good morning Sapphire! I know you’re probably asleep, because it’s summer and no one is up at 7 am in the summer, but I just wanted to text you!

 

Ruby :p: Also; I totally schooled this guy lifting weights in the gym this morning. It was hilarious.

 

Ruby :p: Attachment: 1 Photo

 

Sapphire opened up the photo, and it was Ruby carrying some weights that looked way too large for her small body to be able to carry. In the background, some dudebro type was looking on in awe. Ruby looked so effortlessly attractive, and Sapphire felt her face flush.

 

Me: you go ruby

 

Ruby :p: Glad to see you’re up sleeping beauty :D

 

Sapphire couldn’t help but laugh at the nickname. She was a very heavy sleeper. She figured she should ask Ruby about the next night.

 

Me: you got a moment to talk?

 

Ruby :p: Of course!

Sapphire went to form a text, and was stopped when she saw an incoming call from Ruby. She had expected to just text her, but Sapphire didn’t mind a phone call. She hit accept.

 

“Hey Sapphire!” Ruby greeted from the other line. She heard a buzz of other people in the background. Yelling children, calm conversations, the creaking of something.

 

“Hello Ruby!” Sapphire smiled to herself, unplugging her phone and walking out to her balcony, sitting down on one of the couches are she spoke.

 

“So, what did you need to talk abou- Navy! I’m on the phone!” Sapphire heard a mumbled apology in the background, before Ruby turned her attention back to the call. “Sorry, my little sister just threw a ball at me.”

 

“It’s no problem.” Sapphire looked out at her backyard, where a random worker was cleaning the pool. “Anyways, my parents are holding some boring business thing tomorrow, and they want to meet you. You doing anything tomorrow night?”

 

“I don’t think so, no. What should I wear?”

 

“Just some type of formalwear. A suit or a dress or something.” Sapphire explained.

 

“I...don’t own any formal wear.” Ruby mumbled.

 

“You dont?” Sapphire layed down on her couch, staring at the clouds

 

“There was never really a need for it. But I can go rent something!” Ruby rushed through her words.

 

“No! You can just borrow something that’s mine!” Sapphire rushed as well. She didn’t want to inconvenience Ruby. “I can pick you up sometime today, and you can pick something out!”

 

“Well, I have work at 3, so I can do it anytime before then!” Ruby said.

 

“Text me your address, okay? I’ll pick you up as soon as I get dressed.”

 

“Okay. Bye Sapphire!”

 

Sapphire smiled to herself. “Goodbye Ruby.”

 

Getting up, she opened the sliding glass door to her balcony, stepping inside before getting ready to leave. She checked the weather app on her phone, and was delighted when she saw it was going to rain. Sapphire loved the rain. She went to her closet, grabbing a random pair of dark blue skinny jeans, and a black hoodie. She pulled them on, and put her hair down, before deciding it was good enough. She slipped on some black flip flops, and grabbed her phone and car keys, heading out to go pick up Ruby. Walking to the garage, she hopped in her white sports car. Her parents had insisted that she drive a nice car, to “reflect the families success.” Sapphire didn’t understand why she had to show off, but she did what her parents told her. She grabbed her pedal extenders from the trunk, snapping them on before grabbing a pillow for both her and Ruby to sit on. All set, she inputted the address into her GPS and started driving.

 

Sapphire worried on the drive to Ruby’s house. Would Ruby think she was a show off, a stuck up? What if Ruby ended up meeting her parents sooner than expected and was too intimidated to come back? What if Sapphire said something wrong and scared her off? She gripped the steering wheel a little tighter, surely breaking some traffic laws, but the nerves coursing through her made her forget about all of that. Eventually, she pulled up in front of a small house. It looked like there were way more people living there than comfortable, considering there was at least 12 people out on the front lawn. One of them was Ruby, and Sapphire rolled down her window, calling to her.

 

“Ruby!”

 

“Oh! Sapphire! Mom, I gotta go now. Bye!” And then Ruby got up, running to the car and opening up the door to the passenger side before sliding in.

 

“And you said I had a nice car.” Ruby admired as Sapphire started driving off.

 

“You do.” Sapphire said.

 

“Yeah, but not nearly as nice as this! This is ridiculous!”

 

“It’s nice, but I still would rather have a truck.”

 

“You’re ridiculous.” Ruby laughed, and Sapphire couldn’t help but laugh with her. They talked about nothing in particular before they pulled up to Sapphires house. After parking the car, she got out, and motioned for Ruby to follow her.

 

“How do you not get lost in this house?” Ruby asked, as Sapphire grabbed her hand.

 

“It’s not that complicated once you get used to it. I used to get lost all the time as a little kid though, and it took me ages to find my way back to my bedroom. All that exploring did help me figure out the floor plan though.” Sapphire led Ruby up the first staircase, looking back as she talked.

 

“Your parents didn’t come help you?”

 

“My parents aren’t around a lot.” Ruby could tell that she hit a sore subject, so she stopped talking, letting Sapphire guide her through the large house, before eventually she opened a door.

 

“Here it is, my bedroom.” Sapphire glanced at Ruby to see what she thought, before letting go of her hand to go sit on the bed, Ruby joining her. After a few moments in silence, she spoke again.

 

“We can go take a look in my closet, and you can see what you like. I already set aside my dress, so everything in there is fair game.” Sapphire said, getting up and opening the door to her walk in closet. She flipped on the light, and Ruby stepped in.

 

“You have…a lot of clothes.” Ruby seemed very shocked by the way Sapphire lived, which was new for Sapphire. Her parents only ever really let her talk to people who lived the same way she did. Lapis was the only exception, and that was just because her parents had no idea Lapis existed.

 

“I suppose I do.” Sapphire answered nonchalantly. “Take your pick.”

 

“I don’t even know where to start!” Ruby exclaimed.

 

“I’ll help you. Red?” Sapphire grabbed a couple of red dresses from different spots in the closet, before setting them beside Ruby. “Let’s take a look at these first.”

 

“Sure!” Ruby held up the first one, a simple red cocktail dress. “Eh, I don’t really like exposing my back.” Sapphire didn’t respond, just removed another dress from the pile as Ruby set it aside. They went through a couple of other dresses, before Ruby held one up. It had a skater style bottom, and a t-shirt top. The top was covered in lace.

 

“This one would be perfect, but the shade of red is so obnoxious.” Ruby said, before moving to put it in the no pile.

 

“That’s exactly what I said.” Sapphire smiled at her. “I have it in a a dark purple, if you want to try that one on?” She offered.

 

“Yeah, sure!” Sapphire got up, grabbing the dress before handing it to Ruby.

 

“Perfect.”

 

“Go try it on.” Sapphire prodded, smiling softly at Ruby and pointing toward the bathroom. She waited patiently until she heard the door click again.

 

“So.” Ruby started shyly. “What do you think?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kay so first day of sophomore year! 10th grade babey (im almost 15 for reference if ur not american.) so my first class was sign language, and i’m surprised how much i already know even though i’ve only had two class periods of it. i have choir second period, and we haven’t really started singing yet so i don’t have much to say about that one. same goes with my honors world history class. my math teacher seems nice enough, my one problem with her is she just drones on and on, it’s boring af. also we’ve been doing seventh grade math even though it’s and eleventh grade math class?? what’s up with that. we haven’t started work in chemistry yet, but i’ve heard my teachers a bitch so ill keep y’all updated on that. finally, i have honors english sixth period, and my teachers funny as fuck. anyways, that was a summary or my first day (and today sorta) see ya!


	6. Buisness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so holy FUKIN shit i totally forgot to post this im sorry, yesterday was SUPER hectic, and thursday was my birthday was ya boi totally blanked. well, i dont have much to say about this, except im sorry for the angst

To say that Sapphire was nervous would be a huge understatement. She paced relentlessly across her room, left, right, left, right. The clack of her heels against the wooden floor became the soundtrack to her worries as she aimlessly walked. She was due to be downstairs with her parents in about fifteen minutes, but she had been ready for an hour. She thought prematurely getting ready would calm her nerves but it really just made things worse. 

 

Sapphire already knew that her outfit was fine. She picked out the dress herself, and had it professionally tailored to fit her perfectly. She didn’t normally go all out, but she’d felt a need to impress. The black fabric clung to her perfectly, held up by two thick straps. There was a golden belt just below her ribs, and from there the fabric freely flowed to her knees. She wore a simple pair of black heels with it, as she wanted to be able to walk still. She had her makeup professionally done as well, golden eyeshadow and black wings matching her dress perfectly. 

 

She walked to her mirror, needing to do something, anything. In a last minute impulse decision, she pulled her hair into an elegant low ponytail, leaving a few of the small braids out to frame her face. She then wiped off her lipstick and replaced it with a cool brown gloss. Finally, the alarm sounded on her phone, and she turned it off before throwing it on her bed. She walked downstairs to meet her parents. 

 

Her parents were at the door, both wearing very formal clothing. As she approached her mother turned around, motioning for her to come closer. Sapphire obeyed, standing just outside the door with her family. 

 

“You are to stand out here and greet the guests with us. Ruby is coming tonight, correct?”  Her father asked, not even bothering to look down at her. 

 

“Yes.” She answered. She had learned that simple answers were better. The first guests came in, and she greeted them accordingly. She knew them all, but they weren’t anything interesting. The first person that she actually cared about arrived, Pearl in a champagne colored cocktail dress, her father walking beside her. 

 

“Good evening, Mr. Delmar. And you too, Pearl.” Sapphire’s mother greeted. 

 

“Good evening.” They both answered in unison. “And Sarafina, you’re growing into quite the young woman.” Mr. Delmar complimented. 

 

“Thank you sir.” Sapphire’s answer was quick, as she was trying to hide the shaking in her voice. She could feel the all familiar nerves in her stomach, yet there was nothing she could really do about it with her parents standing right there. 

 

The next person of interest to arrive was Ruby. While the rest of the guests drove up, Ruby appeared to have just walked. She looked very uncomfortable as she walked up. She probably felt so out of place! Sapphire suddenly felt very guilty for inviting her. She did eventually make it to the door though, and she introduced herself to them. 

 

“And who are you?” Her mother asked, staring down at Ruby. Sapphire hoped they wouldn’t notice that Ruby’s dress was actually hers. 

 

“My name is, uh, Ruby. Ruby Chaudeh.” Ruby looked very nervous, although it did look like she was trying. Sapphire had run her down on the social expectations at these events to help calm Ruby’s nerves, and also to help ensure her parents approved of her. She was doing well so far. 

 

“Ruby. Is that your actual first name?” Her father asked. 

 

“No sir. It’s Ramona. Ruby is my middle name”

 

“Ramona Ruby Chaudeh.” Her mother bent down so she was at eye level with Ruby. “I’ll have you know we are  **very** strict about who we let Sarafina spend her time with. We will be watching you very closely. Sarafina, you may go in with your friend.” She then stood up, acting like nothing happened, and Sapphire got up, leading Ruby inside. They had a small ballroom on the first floor, and that’s where they usually held their business parties. 

 

“Wow, your parents are, intimidating.” Ruby started. Now that Sapphire was out of the watchful eye of her parents, she had a chance to really observe Ruby. She had somehow managed to pull her unruly hair back into a tight ponytail, but it was so short that it pretty much looked like a bun. She wore a simple pair of black flats, and Sapphire could see some sloppily applied mascara on her lashes. She guessed that Ruby didn’t normally wear makeup. Despite that, Ruby looked good. 

 

“Yes, they are.” Sapphire answered. “Pearl is here somewhere, and if i’m correct Rose should be here sometime soon.” 

 

“Lets go talk to them!” Ruby smiled, and Sapphire grabbed her hand, looking around for Pearl. She saw her in the corner, awkwardly standing by her father. Sapphire walked over and said hello. 

 

“Pearl.” She waved at her from a few feet away. Pearl wasn’t talking in the conversation, so she slipped away and joined Ruby and Sapphire. 

 

“Ruby, you’re here? And hello Sapphire.” Pearl greeted them. 

 

“My parents wanted to meet her.” Sapphire explained. Pearl cringed. 

 

“Oh Ruby, I am so sorry.”

 

“Yeah, they’re pretty scary.” Ruby rubbed the back of her neck as Sapphire led them to the drinks table. There were some pretty thin champagne glasses there, only about a shots worth of liquid in each glass. People weren’t really supposed to drink enough to feel the effects at the parties. Sapphire grabbed one, glanced around to make sure no one was looking in her direction, and downed it all in one go. She set the glass down, grabbing a new one, and motioning for Ruby to do the same. Ruby took a glass, along with Pearl. Sapphire then took a small bottle of vodka from her bra, and dumped it in her glass before throwing the bottle away. 

 

“Sapphire, you okay?” Ruby asked, genuinely a little concerned. Sapphire didn’t seem like the type to drink, but then again, Ruby didn’t know her all too well. 

 

“I can never make it through these events sober.” Sapphire explained. “Just take a sip of your drink whenever I take a sip of mine. It’s hard to get the expected pace down.” Ruby nodded, taking her first sip as Sapphire took hers. They walked around for a little while, as Sapphire pointed out all the people of interest. Soon, Pearl’s father came up. 

 

“Pearl! There you are! Hello again Sarafina, and who’s this?” He asked. 

 

“This is Ruby. Ruby, this is my father.” Pearl introduced. 

 

“It’s very nice to meet you Ruby!” Mr. Delmar shook her hand. “If you’ll excuse us, Pearl and I have to leave a little early tonight.”

 

“Of course, we understand.” Sapphire answered for the both of them. Ruby felt it was better to let her do all the talking. 

 

“Here, I’ll take your glasses back on the way out.” Pearl grabbed the empty glasses from both their hands before they could protest, and then walked off. Finally alone, Ruby turned to Sapphire. 

 

“I didn’t get a chance to tell you before, but you look, uhm, really good.” Ruby blushed. 

 

“Oh, thank you Ru-” Sapphire was interrupted. She looked up at who decided they were more important than her conversation. 

 

“Ah, Sarafina.” Jasper cooed, grabbing a strand of her hair and absentmindedly playing with it. Jasper was Lapis’ ex-girlfriend, and she introduced Sapphire to Lapis. However, that was the only positive thing she had ever brought to Sapphire’s life. Jasper was a toxic person, and even since Lapis had broken up with her she had moved on to flirting with Sapphire. She apparently had a thing for blue haired people. 

 

“Oh, good evening Jasper.” Sapphire took a step back, and it didn’t register that she stepped right into Ruby’s arms. She did feel safer when Ruby’s hand gripped her hip though. 

“Have you finally gained a little weight? Because you’re filling out that dress quite nicely. Glad to see you’re wearing tight clothes now.” Jasper leaned against the wall, attempting to make herself look taller. She smirked down at Sapphire, only to see tears filling her eyes. Sapphire turned, running off. 

 

“Sapphire, wait!” Ruby called after her, before following her out of the room. She chased Sapphire through the house, eventually coming to the door of her room. She cracked it open, and saw Sapphire sitting at the edge of her bed, crying into the sheets. She hadn’t bothered to turn on the light, but the light through her glass door shined on her. The moonlight suited Sapphire. 

 

“Sapphire?” She asked carefully, walking slowly into the room. 

 

“Ruby.” Her voice was muffled by the sheets. 

 

“Are you alright?” Ruby walked up, sitting down next to Sapphire. She looked up then, and Ruby didn’t realize that runny makeup and tear stained eyes could be a good look on someone until she saw it on Sapphire. Her good eye was extremely bloodshot, and Ruby reached out to rub a tear from her cheek. Sapphire didn’t bother to answer the question, instead pulling out her contact and placing it on the bed. 

 

“It was bothering my eye.” She explained. She grabbed her hair tie, pulling it out of her hair. Her hair was like a safety blanket, she liked to hide in it. Ruby just smiled, and brushed it out of her face. 

 

“Come on, don’t hide your face, you’re beautiful.” Ruby knew she would regret spilling her heart out later, but it felt so right at the moment. On impulse, she got up,grabbing Sapphires hand to pull her up too. She lifted Sapphire up, spinning her around a few times, before setting her down. Her shoes had flown off in the process, and they lay discarded on the floor. She then lead Sapphire to her balcony, grabbing her phone from the pocket in her dress. She scrolled through her songs, before finally settling on one she thought would work. 

 

“Sapphire?” She held out her hand. “Dance with me?” Sapphire giggled, grabbing her hand. 

 

“Okay.” She smiled, and let herself get pulled into Ruby’s arms. She rested her hands on Ruby’s shoulder, and Ruby brought her hands to Sapphire’s waist. Sapphire couldn’t help but smile. She didn’t expect to spend her night slow dancing outside without any shoes on. But, it felt right. 


	7. Oh Baby

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sooooo,,,,we’re totally gonna forget the fact that i updated a day late last week...right?
> 
> anyways all i have to say about this one is babey boi. babey. also i’m sorry

Over the past month and a half Sapphire had become a regular at Ruby’s house. Although her house was small, pretty much held together with duct tape, and housing way more than it should, the accepting atmosphere was so much different from her own home, and Sapphire thrived there.

 

Sapphire was spending the night at Ruby’s house on August 14th. It was turning out to be a pretty normal day, nothing interesting had happened. She’d taken Ruby school supply shopping that morning, and Ruby went with her to her school to go and pick up Sapphire’s new set of uniforms. Afterwards, she had packed a bag and headed to Ruby’s. It was about 11 pm, and she was sitting on the couch, most of Ruby’s siblings already asleep. Only a few were still awake, and they all sat in the living room talking.

 

“It’s not fair that you’re still on summer break Sapphire.” Rueben, the oldest of the siblings, groaned, throwing his head back.  “Being a senior fucking sucks.” He took a hit of his blunt, dirty fingernails bringing it to cracked lips.

 

“You’ve only been back in school for three days. Besides, I go back next week.” Sapphire rolled her working eye at him from across the room, where she lay against Ruby’s side. Ruby stopped aimlessly strumming her guitar for a few seconds to point the pick at him.

 

“You’re eighteen. If it sucks that badly then just drop out.” Ruby said.

 

“Come on, don’t use that argument against me! You know that I need a degree to get a job!” He shoved a handful of cheetos in his mouth.

 

“Doesn’t he make enough money selling vape juice to sophomores.” Army, Ruby’s older sister stage whispered to the two of them from the fridge. Ruby and Sapphire both laughed.

 

“Whatever.” He scoffed. “Y’all want some cheetos?” He held the bag out to them, and Ruby grabbed a handful before passing the bag to Sapphire. She grabbed three, adding 21 to the mental count in her head before tossing the bag back to Rueben. The look he made when the bag dropped to the floor reminded her so much of Ruby that she had to laugh. He looked pretty similair to his little sister, his hair and eye color matched hers pretty well (however, all the siblings shared these features.) but his facial expressions made him an almost carbon copy of Ruby.

 

“What the hell Sapphire!?” He threw his hands up before leaning down to grab it.

 

“Yeah, because you not catching the bag is totally her fault.” Army returned to the living room, lifting Sapphire’s legs before sitting on the couch. “Sapphire, aren’t you hot?” She offhandedly asked. The AC system was broken, and so it had been unreasonably warm in the house. Most had taken to walking around shirtless, and even Ruby just wore a black sports bra and some red basketball shorts. Sapphire however, was wearing a pair of black leggings, and a maroon shirt she stole from Ruby, which seemed like an extra large with the way it hung on her small body.

 

“Oh, no. I run cold.” She gave Army a half smile. Well, it was half true, Sapphire hadn’t felt truly warm for a good year and a half.

 

“Whatever suits you I guess.” She shrugged, grabbing the remote for the TV. As she flipped aimlessly through the channels, Sapphire noticed her phone going off. Reaching for it on the coffee table, she took a second to look at the caller before answering.

 

“Greg, is everything alright? You never call.” Sapphire answered, not bothering with a hello. She was correct, Greg wasn’t very close with her, so he would have no reason to call unless it was something important.

 

“Are you with Ruby?” He asked, the panic obvious in his voice.

 

“Yes, why?”

  
“Rose went into early labor, and she wants you two at the hospital. Please hurry, it’s kind of important.” He hung up before Sapphire could respond, and she went to explain to Ruby before she interrupted her.

 

“I heard. Come on, let’s go.” Ruby put her guitair down, helping Sapphire up before grabbing a random sweater thrown over the side of the couch. Sliding the black sweater on, she threw on a random pair of sandals as Sapphire placed her glasses on her face. Sapphire slid on her tennis shoes, not bothering to tie them as they ran out the door. Hopping in Ruby’s truck, she settled in as Ruby began to drive. She leaned down and tied her shoes, before grabbing a hairtie from her wrist and beginning to put her hair in a low ponytail.

 

“Well, are you ready to meet Steven?” Ruby asked, stopping at a red light.

 

“Yes.” Sapphire answered, staring out the window.

 

“Are you nervous? I’m nervous.” Ruby tended to talk a lot when she was nervous, while Sapphire clammed up, so her voice took over most of the conversation when things like this happened.

 

“Very.” And then they were at the hospital. They ran in, and Amethyst was waiting in the front room for them. She looked like she had rushed too, as she still had tattoo ink splattered on her arms, her hair tied up as it usually was while she worked. She smiled to them before leading them to the hospital room.

 

Most of Rose’s closest friends were there. Sapphire had at least expected to see her mother, but it seemed none of her family had decided to show up. Greg sat to Rose’s left, gripping her hand as Pearl mirrored him on her right. There were only two seats on the couch, so Peridot sat in Lapis’ lap, both of them in their pajamas. Greg’s brother Andy, who Sapphire had only met in passing for a few minutes, sat next to them. Amethyst leaned against the wall next to them, and Rose looked up to see who had entered.

 

“Ruby! Sapphire!” She smiled at them, although it was strained. Sapphire guessed that she was in a lot of pain. She simply smiled and waved, letting Ruby say hello first.

 

“Well, I guess I should catch you two up.” Her face suddenly gained a solemn look. “The doctors ran some tests, and it’s likely I won’t survive Steven’s birth. They’re doing everything they can, but they’re still not sure I’ll make it.”

 

Sapphire felt her panic drop to sadness, and she ran up to hug Rose. She let go of Greg and Pearl’s hands to hug her back, before grabbing Sapphire’s hands and looking her in the eye.

 

“Sapphire, I don’t know what’s been troubling you this past year or so, but I do know that you don’t deserve to struggle like this. You’re a wonderful person Sapphire. Please, let the people around you help you. Go get some help. I love you.” She leaned forward before kissing Sapphire on the forehead and letting go of her hands. She walked to the back to stand with Amethyst as Ruby went to talk with her.

 

“Well, now that everyone’s here, I don’t want to spend the last hours of my life surrounded by all my sad friends. There will be more than enough time for that after this is all over. Come on, I want this to feel like any other hang out.” She smiled at her friends.

 

Sapphire spent the next four hours smiling and laughing with Rose for what could quite possibly be the last time.

 


	8. Glassware

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ive been listening to a lot of cavetown lately. like, thats straight up all ive been listening to. also i got a twitter go follow me
> 
> twitter: ohitssawyer  
> tumblr: not-a-machine

As Steven was getting closer and closer to his birth, everyone except Greg had been kicked out of the room. They had been brought to a small room for waiting families, and while this one definitely had more space, there still wasn’t nearly enough. Amethyst sat on one of the counters, washing the ink off her skin with the sink beside her. Lapis was aggressively working some modeling clay in her hands, and Peridot was tapping her foot with a shocking intensity. Sapphire guessed that they all dealt with the room’s tension in a different way. Ruby was pacing, much to the annoyance of Pearl. 

 

“Ruby, I’m so sorry but could you please stop pacing!” She suddenly exploded, everyone in the room looking up at her. Even Andy, who had awkwardly been reading a magazine in the corner, snapped his head up. 

 

“I’m sorry Pearl, I’m just nervous.” Her feet began carrying her across the room again, a subconscious habit that she couldn’t really rid herself of. When she reached the other side of the room, Sapphire gently grabbed her hand to stop her from going anywhere. They didn’t need to be arguing. Ruby smiled at her, before sitting on the floor beside Sapphire’s armchair. They waited. 

 

“Is this the friends and family of Pink Quartz-Diamond and Greg DeMayo?” The doctor, a frazzled looking woman with her hair sticking everywhere asked them, barely bothering to look up from the clipboard in her hand. 

 

“Uh, yeah” Andy answered after no one else did.  

 

“Good. I’m Doctor Maheswaran, and I’m sorry to inform you that Pink is no longer with us. I understand this is difficult. I’ll give you a few minutes to grieve, but when you’re ready, Steven is ready for visitors.” She turned around and left, and the room was silent for a few seconds. 

 

Then total chaos occured. Pearl started loudly sobbing, curling up into herself from where she was sitting on the examination chair. That set off a chain reaction, Lapis and Peridot turning to cry in each other’s arms. Amethyst sat quietly on the counter, but tears flowed from her eyes into her lap. 

 

And Sapphire? Sapphire screamed. 

 

She slid down to the floor. After she had a few seconds get everything out of her system, she remembered people were around her. Ruby wrapped her arms around her, and Sapphire used her jacket to muffle her next screech, before she pulled away, and looked up at Ruby’s misty eyes. 

 

“I’m going to go take Sapphire home. We’ll meet Steven tomorrow.” Ruby mumbled to no one in particular, before picking up Sapphire and carrying her out of the room. She was placed gently into the passenger seat of Ruby’s truck, Ruby buckling her seatbelt for her. The gentle , calming light of the sunrise contradicted Sapphire’s emotions so much she almost laughed. Sometime during the car ride, she fell asleep. 

 

When she woke up next, she found herself laying in Ruby’s bed. This was her first sign of confusion, as when she slept over at Ruby’s house she usually slept on the floor. Rolling over to check the alarm clock across the room, Sapphire saw that it read 11:23 am. She figured that would explain why the usually packed bedroom was empty. She’d have to thank Ruby and her sisters for not waking her while they got ready for school. She got up, unplugging her phone from the charging port before making her way down the stairs. She needed to go home and shower. 

 

She stopped at the bottom of the stairs when she heard the sound of shattering glass. After getting over the initial adrenaline rush, she figured that Army has just dropped a glass. She had graduated a couple years ago, so she stayed home most of the day. Sapphire went to the front room to go help her and was met by a very unexpected site. 

 

Ruby stood in the kitchen, once again pacing relentlessly, but this time she was mumbling something to herself under her breath. On the floor around her there were a couple shattered glasses. Sapphire stood in the corner, as Ruby seemed to have not noticed her yet. Ruby grabbed another glass from the counter, chucking it against the wall.

 

“Fuck!” She yelled. “Can’t the universe stop killing the people important to me! Who’s gonna be ripped away from me next, Sapphire! Shit! I can’t even joke about that!”  She punched the counter with as much force and she could muster, and continued talking to herself, going to throw another glass at the wall, but Sapphire walked up, resting her hand on Ruby’s shoulder. Glass dug into her feet, but Sapphire ignored the pain to comfort her friend. Ruby turned around, dropping the glass into her hand out of shock, before tearing up, the anger seeming to fizzle out of her. 

 

“Sapphire...I, I’m so sorry. You should’ve never- I thought you were- ugh!” She kicked one of the counters next to her. “ Sapphire reached out, grabbing both of Ruby’s hands. 

 

“It’s okay. I understand, you need to let it out somehow. Come on, let’s clean this up.” She smiled at Ruby, before turning to go grab a broom from the broom closet. When she came back, Ruby seemed to have been frozen with shock. 

 

“Sapphire, are you okay?” She asked very suddenly. 

 

“Yes, why?” Sapphire responded, then followed Ruby’s hand as she pointed to the floor. There was a small trail of blood following wherever Sapphire walking, and when she looked down she saw blood pooling from the cuts in her feet. “Oh. I guess we’ll have to clean this up.”

 

“That’s all you have to say?! You’re fucking bleeding! Here.” She walked forward, once again scooping up Sapphire before carrying her to the couch. Ruby had luckily been wearing her shoes. Once the mess in the kitchen was cleaned up, she sprinted up the stairs, returning to the room a few moments later with a first aid kit. 

 

“Ruby, you don’t need to do this for me.” Sapphire smiled softly down at her as she began to clean the blood off her feet with hydrogen peroxide. Looking over, she noticed that Ruby had grabbed Sapphire’s glasses too. Sapphire was glad Ruby remembered them, because she was prepared to leave without them. Sliding them on her face, she returned her attention to Ruby, who was gently bandaging her feet. 

 

“Yes I do. I did this, now I have to fix it.” Something seemed to be on her mind, but Sapphire was ready to drop it. Before she did though, Ruby asked. “You seemed so unphased when you got hurt, like it was a normal occurrence. Sapphire, are you really okay?” She asked softly. She felt herself start to shake slightly, the tears returning to her eyes. She gripped her shirt tightly before answering.

 

“No.” She whispered out, before she began to quitely sob. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry lol


	9. Frigid

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me every friday at aprox. 8 pm: oh FUCK i forgot to post the next chapter
> 
> also i love zach callisons music so much, i just had to incorporate it into the story somehow. give it a listen if all havent already, seriously. 
> 
> BIG IMPORTANT BEFORE YOU READ
> 
> i sorta stopped giving anorexia warnings because, well the main character is anorexic, so its kinda a given. but uh, things get pretty...serious in this chapter. it could be pretty triggering for someone who struggles with that stuff. if you decide that you wont be able to read this chapter safely, ill put a summary of what happened at the end. much love, and stay safe <3
> 
> tumblr:not-a-machine

“Sapphire, tell me what’s wrong. I can help you, I promise. I’ll get you away from whatever’s hurting you.” Ruby sat up on her knees so that she was at eye level with Sapphire, and reached up, wiping a tear off her face. 

 

“I’m sorry.” Sapphire continued to cry. “I can’t.” She took a few seconds to collect her thoughts before continuing. “I want to Ruby, I really do, but I’m not ready.” The hurt look in her eyes and the crack of her voice as she talked was too much for Ruby, and she reached forward, squeezing Sapphire into a crushing hug. 

 

“When you’re ready, I’ll be here. Or even if you’re never ready, I’ll be here anyways. If you ever need help, tell me, okay? I’ll even drive to your prissy ass boarding school if you want.” Ruby made an attempt at a joke, and it paid off when Sapphire let out a small laugh. 

 

“Ruby, my school is only 20 minutes from your house. Besides, I go home on the weekends.” Sapphire mumbled into Ruby’s t-shirt. 

 

“Still, I’d do it even if I had to fly across the country.”

 

“Thank you Ruby.” Sapphire finally pulled away from the hug. “I really do need to get home though. And you have some make up work to do.” Ruby got out of the way as Sapphire pulled her shoes on. 

 

“Hey! I only missed one day. Besides, it’s the beginning of the year, it’s not like we’re doing anything important.”

 

“You’d be surprised.” And with that, Sapphire left. 

 

She wasn’t too shocked at the lack of life at her home. She was the only regular presence in the large mansion. She at least had a babysitter when she was really young, although Blue wasn’t the best at taking care of children. In fact, she was pretty bad at it. Sapphire was glad for the emptiness though, as she would surely be scolded for her less than acceptable appearance if her parents saw her. 

 

She made her way to her room, shutting the door before sliding up against it. She felt guilty for not telling Ruby, really guilty. She pulled her knees into her chest. 

 

“I’m such a bad friend.” She mumbled to herself. “I at least owe Ruby an explanation but I can’t even give her that.” Once again she felt her eyes getting misty, before she stood up on shaky limbs. As much as she would love to succumb to the faults in her brain, Sapphire actually had things she needed to do. She walked over to her dresser, grabbing a random bra and a pair of underwear before heading to her bathroom. 

 

She unlocked her phone, connecting it to her bluetooth speaker before opening her spotify. She then scrolled through her playlists before her eyes focused on one. 

 

_ For Sapphire by Lapis_Lazulli _

 

Sapphire had that playlist saved in her phone for a good three months, and had never once listened to it. Lapis had made it for her, explaining that upbeat music often helped her when she felt herself going into a depressive episode. Sapphire had never bothered to try it out, but for some reason she felt compelled to give it a try. 

 

The first song on the playlist was by some artist named Zach Callison. Sapphire had never heard his music, but she knew that Lapis liked his stuff, so she wasn’t surprised. The song was titled “War!”, and with hesitant fingers she hit play. Her ears were immediately filled with the fast beat, and Sapphire prepared for her shower. 

 

She took of her clothes, folding them in a neat pile and making a mental note to give Ruby her t-shirt back. She then pulled her hair out of its tie, before moving on to the most important part of her routine. She stared at her body in the mirror, and started with her face. Her cheeks looked a little too puffy for her liking, her collarbones weren’t very visible, her stomach wasn’t flat enough, her thigh gap could be bigger, her wrists could be thinner. Scratch that, she could be thinner in general. She sighed to herself, turning sideways and sucking in her stomach. 

 

“I’ll get there someday.” She spoke to herself, before turning on the shower. She felt frigid water underneath her fingertips as the water began to flow. Checking the water temperature was an old habit from back when she took warm showers, but warm showers weren’t for people like Sapphire. Warm showers were for people who were happy with their bodies. 

 

“Warm showers are for people who are skinny.” A voice crept in from the back of her head, but Sapphire ignored it. She grabbed some shampoo, gently massaging her scalp. She stared at the ceiling the whole time, to avoid looking at her body. She then put on her face wash, before rinsing her hair. As she washed off her face wash, she debated whether or not she should shave. Unable to decide, she only shaved her calves, before deciding it was good enough. Finally, she quickly washed her body before hopping out of the shower. 

 

She was shivering, which was pretty common, but it became pretty intense after her showers. She resisted the urge to bundle up, and once again checked her body in the mirror. Nothing had changed. As if one cold shower was going to change anything. 

 

“This is a process. I’ll get there someday.” She repeated to herself. It was something she said a lot. She figured if she told herself repeatedly it would one day be true. Not that she ever believed it. 

 

She got dressed, stepping out into her room before making her way into her closet. She wanted something simple, so she grabbed a plain black dress, and a fuzzy sky blue cardigan before changing. She pulled on some socks and her usual pair of black converse before walking back to her room and making her way to her vanity. She didn’t feel like drying her hair, so she slipped it into a simple bun, leaving a few pieces out to frame her face. She then moved onto makeup, applying mostly face makeup to cover her breakdown from earlier. She did line her eyes with a soft brown though, smudging it out before applying a small bit of mascara, She put on a clear lipgloss and got up. She wasn’t really trying to impress anyone. 

 

Sighing to herself, she paused her music and pocketed her phone, before grabbing her suitcase and making her way down to the car. With a lot of effort, she lifted it into the trunk, before getting in and driving off to her school. When she arrived, she saw many other students doing the same thing as her, except they were all accompanied by family members to help them. A big banner was placed right at the entrance of the school. It was beautifully decorated, and it was obvious that it was the work of Rose Quartz, probably the last commission she ever completed for the school. 

 

Sapphire didn’t realize a banner with the words “Moving in Day” could ever hold so much sentimental value to her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay SO
> 
> ruby sorta asks sapphire if shes okay at the beginning, and she had a lil baby breakdown about it, she cried into rubys arms and they had a sweet Moment. then she goes home and gets ready for the day. while shes looking in the mirror she checks her body, and then takes a shower. she drives to her school with her suitcase, and notices that the moving in day banner was drawn by rose, and thats where it ends. 
> 
> yeehaw


	10. Suitcases/Parks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> y’all schools been kicking my as lately, i’m so tired. anyways that all i rlly have to say, peace
> 
> tumblr: not-a-machine

Sapphire tuggd her suitcase through the halls, refusing to adress the strange atmosphere at the school. Usually moving in day was different, usually Rose and Pearl met up with her and they would all help each other move in. When they were young, Blue and Yellow would come with them as well. However, they had long since graduated, not to mention the fact that they dropped Rose as soon as she started dating Greg.  

 

The rolling of her suitcase and the murmer of her peers was more anxiety inducing than comforting, and Sapphire was trembling by the time she made it to her dorm. She made a mental note to work on her whole shaking problem, as it was becoming too common for her liking. She creaked open the door, and was met with an unusual sight.

 

Pearl looked like a hot mess. Even during her lowest moments she always made sure she was presentable, so this change in appearance was a shock for Sapphire. Her hair had grown out, and it was now starting to look like she had a mini-mullet. On top of that, she was wearing an oversized white t-shirt with a couple of stains, and a pair of black leggings with a few sizable holes. She was also wearing birkenstocks, and Sapphire almost laughed at the irony, as Pearl often expressed her hate for them.

 

“Good afternoon Sapphire.” Pearl greeted her, although there was no real emotion behind it. Pearl normally dormed with Rose, but the school changed her roomate assignment after being informed of Rose’s passing. Sapphire was glad that she wasn’t going to be rooming with a total stranger again, as most of her friends went to public school.

 

“Hey.” Sapphire gave her a small smile. “How are you?” She didn’t need to ask, it was all formalities.   
  
“Honestly? I’m not doing too good. Steven is a joy to be around though, you should get around to visiting him sometime. He already looks so much like her.” Pearl smiled at her, and Sapphire made a mental note to head to the hospital to visit him. Or maybe she would just wait a couple days and visit Greg’s house after Steven was discharged.

 

“Do you need any help?” Sapphire asked as Pearl returned to folding up her uniform jackets.

 

“Oh no, I’m almost done. I’ll be glad to help you once I’m done though. I’m sure that we’ll spend enough time in her as the year goes on.”

 

“I’d appriciate the help.” Sapphire unzipped her own suitcase. Ruby had helped her fold all her uniforms so unpacking on that front was pretty easy. She didn’t have too many personal trinkets either, so the room was finished before they knew it.

 

“Well, that was pretty easy. I’ll probably go pick up a rug and some shelves later this week, to help with organization. Do you have a preference to color?” Pearl asked.

 

“Not really, no. Do as you please.” Sapphire answered, sliding her suitcase under her bed. She pulled out her phone, sitting down on her bed to check it real quick.

 

Ruby :p: Hey! I stopped by ur house to see if you wanted to go get ice cream, but no one answered the door. Let me know if you’re down

 

Ruby :P: Sapph, it’s been 45 minutes, are you okay? You never text back this slow

 

Ruby :P: Sapphire? I know it’s dumb but I’m worried. Please just send something so I know you’re safe.

 

Sapphire smiled to herself. She was glad to know that someone cared like Ruby did.

 

Me: i put my phone on silent to shower and forgot to turn it off. Besides, today was moving in day at school anyways, so sorry!

 

Ruby :P: Why didn’t you tell me? I would’ve helped

 

Me: it wasn’t too much, you folding them beforehand saved me a lot of time though.

 

Ruby :P: So, you still down for some ice cream?

 

Me: im actually going to eat dinner soon, but ill sit with you?

 

Ruby :P: I don’t want you to feel out of place though! How bout the park?

 

Me: sure

 

Ruby :P: I’ll pick you up at you’re house in like 30 minutes, okay?

 

Me: got it, bye  
  
Ruby :P: Bye Sapphrie <3

 

Sapphire smiled to herself, Ruby was so expressive in her texts. She looked up and noticed that Pearl must’ve left. If she said bye, Sapphire hadn’t noticed it. She tended to get lost in her thoughts sometimes. She stuck her phone in her pocket and headed out, joining the final trickle of families leaving to go back home. She pulled up to her house, kind of surprised to see Ruby’s truck already parked outside her house. Sapphire parked her car in the driveway instead of it’s normal spot in the garage, and quickly moved to hop into Ruby’s truck.

 

“Hey Sapphire!” Ruby smiled at her.

 

“Hello Ruby. How are you?” Sapphire said.

 

“Good! I went and talked to my anger management therapist earlier today, it’s been a while since I had an outburst like that, so she taught me some new tricks to calm myself down before things get that bad. I don’t normally act like that when something bad happens, not anymore!” She puffed her chest out slightly, and Sapphire could tell she was proud of herself. “Oh! I’m sorry, I’m rambling again.” Ruby gave Sapphire a sheepish smile as she turned the corner.

 

“No, no. I like it when you talk. It’s nice.”

 

“We’re here!” Ruby announced, parking before quickly running to open Sapphire’s door for her. Sapphire laughed at the formality, it kind of felt like they were on a date.

 

Sapphire’s face immidiately flushed. She didn’t like Ruby like that. Well, she wouldn’t be opposed to dating Ruby, but it wasn’t like she had a crush on her. She would like this to be a date, but she was fine if it wasn’t either. She took Ruby’s hand, accepting her help and hopping out of the truck.

 

They walked to a nearby bench and sat down, staring at the small lake.

 

“I’ve started writing some new music.” Ruby started suddenly.

 

“What’s it about?”

  
“It’s about moving on, and about how things get better. I scrapped half an album, I decided I was done with this heartbroken shit. Things have been looking up for me.” Ruby leaned down, grabbing a random pebble before chucking it into the lake.

 

“Have they? I’m happy for you Ruby.” Sapphire scanned the landscape before noticing something in her periferals. “Ruby look! A frog!”

 

“ A frog? There’s barely every frogs in Beach City. I’m gonna try and catch it!”

 

Sapphire couldn’t help but laugh at her statement. “What?”

 

“You heard me.” Ruby got up, and started walking toward the edge of the lake. Sapphire was quick to follow. Creeping up toward the edge, Ruby crouched, moving in before sprinting in. She grabbed the frog as it tried to hop away, but only for a few seconds before she stumbled and fell into the lake. Sapphire headed in the water to go and help her up, reaching out her hand. Ruby grabbed it, yanking and sending Sapphire tumbling down with her.

 

“Hey!” Sapphire splashed her. Ruby went to splash back before they heard a shout.

 

“Hey! No playing in the lake!” A park ranger shouted at them from a distance, and Ruby and Sapphire turned to look at each other.

 

“Run!” Ruby shouted, before grabbing Sapphire’s hand. Sapphire sprinted beside her, and she could see the ranger trying to catch up with them. They made it to Ruby’s truck, Ruby speeding off as soon as they had the doors closed. She turned to Sapphire, and they both started laughing.


	11. Tattoos

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> remind me to go back and write shit here later. i have things i want to say but im literally so exhausted so i’m just gonna post this and go to bed. much love
> 
> tumblr: not-a-machine

By the time Ruby’s truck pulled up in their driveway, they were both shivering. While it was still technically summer, it was the turn of the season, and the cold lake water combined with the cool sunset wind definitely did not help. Ruby quickly hopped out of the truck, opening the door for Sapphire. They entered the house, both sopping wet, and once again looked at each other, falling into a burst of laughter.

 

“What’s so funny?” A small voice asked, and they finally pointed their attention to the living room. Most of Ruby’s siblings were sitting in the living room, doing their homework. There was a lot of them, and Sapphire didn’t really remember all their names, just the ones that were around most often. Navy looked up, expecting an answer to her question.   
  
“Oh, it’s not important. Sapphire and I are gonna go dry off, go back to your homework, okay?” Ruby ruffled her little sister’s curls before sliding her shoes off. Sapphire followed suit, also leaving her cardigan at the door. She didn’t want to track unnecessary water into the house.

 

Ruby grabbed her hand, leading her to the upstairs bathroom, where she turned on the shower. Without thinking, she hopped in, still wearing her clothes, and tugged Sapphire in with her. Her body stiffened as the hot water hit her neck. Sapphire hadn’t taken a warm shower in months. She didn’t even know if this counted as a shower, as they were both still dressed.

 

“This feels nice.” Ruby commented. Sapphire loosened her shoulders. Even though she would hate herself for indulging later, she couldn’t help but agree.

 

“Yeah.” She murmured back. She felt...warm. It was a feeling she had all but forgotten, the fuzzy tingling sensation of frostbite skin finally getting the heat it needed. Without thinking, she pulled Ruby into a hug, laughing into her t-shirt. Ruby picked her up, squeezing Sapphire. When she set her down, Sapphire noticed her black shorts had ridden up slightly, revealing the slightest tip of a design.

 

“Ruby, you have a tattoo?” Sapphire asked, reaching to touch it without thinking.

 

“Oh, uhm, yeah. Amethyst did it back when she was first learning, so it isn’t very good, but I can show you, if you want.”

 

“Sure.” Sapphire pulled her hand away, and Ruby pulled up her shorts even more to reveal the tattoo. It was a simple black drawing of two gauntlets, held together by a chain.

 

“Back when I first started anger management, my outbursts were way worse than they are now. It would cost thousands of dollars to repair and replace everything. So when things started getting bad Rueben would drive me there, and they’d give me these gauntlets, and a bunch of wooden boards. And I would just go at it for hours.” Ruby once again was going on a tangent, which was something she did a lot. Sapphire listened intently to her explanation.

 

“It’s a wonderful tattoo Ruby” Sapphire responded softly. She didn’t know when they started whispering, or when the situation had suddenly felt so intimate, but it had happened.

 

“What about you, any tattoos?”

 

“No. I’d like to get one one day, but I have no idea what I would do.” Sapphire responded honestly.

 

“If you think of something, let me know. I’ll come with you.”

 

“Thank you Ruby.” Sapphire realized then that she had never really left Ruby’s arms, and they both stood silently for a few moments, staring into each other’s eyes. Finally, Ruby pulled the hair out of her face, and planted a gentle kiss to her forehead.

 

“We’re gonna rack up the water bill if we stay here any longer.” Ruby mumbled absentmindedly against Sapphire’s skin. She reached behind her, cutting off the water, before stepping out of the shower. “I’ll go grab us some clothes.” Sapphire couldn’t do anything but nod.

 

Ruby returned later in a pair of black sweatpants and a purple long sleeved t-shirt. She handed Sapphire an oversized red hoodie, before hanging her still wet clothes in the shower. She then stepped out of the room to give Sapphire some privacy, and she changed quickly.

 

The sweater was already big on Ruby, which meant it dwarfed Sapphire, falling almost to her knees. She then grabbed a couple of hair ties sitting in the drawer labelled “Ruby”, and tied her hair into two pigtails. She stepped out of the bathroom where Ruby was waiting for her.

 

“I hope you don’t mind, but I borrowed a couple of your hair ties.” Sapphire mumbled, sliding down the wall to sit on the floor next to Ruby.

 

“Keep them, I barely ever use them anyways.” Ruby responded, staring out the window on the opposite end of the hall. Sapphire joined her, leaning into her shoulder. The sun was ending it’s descent, the sky clashing together in an angsty combination of blue and red tones, but it somehow still worked in perfect harmony. Sapphire took a moment to reflect on how these two polar opposite things could work together to make something so beautiful.

 

“When I graduate, I’m getting the hell out of Beach City.” Ruby muttered suddenly. “I’ve watched this town slowly die, and I refuse to still be here when it finally kicks the bucket. I’m getting out, I’m going to get a nice apartment in Empire City and I’m going to start a new life.” She paused for a few seconds, and Sapphire went to respond before Ruby started again.

 

“I want you to come with me. I know it’s in a few years, and I know your family won’t really be impacted once this place crashes and burns, and you don’t have to say yes. It’s just, I know we’ve only really been friends for a few months but you’ve filled this gap in my life that I never realized was there. I don’t know how I lived without you in my life.” Sapphire responded to Ruby’s proposal without hesitation.

 

“Of course. You’ve changed my life Ruby, things have been better since I met you.” Ruby grabbed Sapphire, pulling her close, and Sapphire curled up into her lap. Ruby spent a few minutes absentmindedly running her hands through Sapphire’s hair, and they probably would’ve stayed there for hours if they weren’t interrupted.

 

Rueben appeared at the end of the hall, coughing loudly to announce his presence. The duo looked up at him.

 

“We’ve been calling you downstairs for dinner. Are you coming or not?” After a few more moments of silence Ruby responded.

 

“Yeah, yeah, we’ll be down there in a second, don’t worry.” Rueben shrugged before turning around and walking back down the stairs.

 

“I suppose we should get up.” Sapphire said.

 

“Yeah, I suppose we should.”

 

They never ended up going to dinner.

 

 

 

 


	12. Just Visiting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okayyyy, so were going to ignore the fact that i never actually went back and said things in the notes next chapter, but i have things to say here! im also not hella tired today so thats pretty cool i guess. 
> 
> aight so anyways the first little snippet of my life i wanna talk about is homecoming! its tomorrow, and a friend asked me to go to the football game with her. this is also the first football game ill be going to, which is weird considering ive been in highschool for about 1 1/4 years. im also going to the dance, even though i dont have a date (someone hmu lol im single n lonely). ive actually gone to every school dance but never had a date, maybe ill get one by the time im a senior. 
> 
> this is a shorter one, but ive been obsessed with the song human by dodie clark. its given me hella ideas for this story, which is good, because that brings me to my third point. 
> 
> im running out of prewritten chapters. the first 10 chapters of this story were written during my summer break, and chapters from then on were written during the school year. i prewrite all my chapters, as im so busy with schoolwork that i cant write something the day it needs to be posted (i wish though lol.) but as my workload has been steadily increasing ive been having less and less time to write. I still have about 4 chapters left, so keep this in mind if i miss an update sometime next month.
> 
> anywayssss, that all i really had to say. i hope you guys enjoy this one! (because i rewrote it three times smh) but i think yall will like it. peace out
> 
> tumblr: not-a-machine

Despite texting her every possible hour of the day, Sapphire couldn’t help but miss Ruby. She had only been back to school for three days and she already longed for the return of summer, where she could stay up all night, doing something stupid with Ruby and then passing out on her bedroom floor in the morning. However, her one solace was that it was Wednesday, which meant visiting day. The boarding school only allowed outside visitors on campus Wednesday afternoons, and both Ruby and Sapphire planned to utilize every single one of them.

 

Sapphire had just returned from her final class of the day, walking from the school building to the dorm building. She was excited, even though they would probably just end up watching netflix on her bed until Pearl returned from her after school ballet classes. She pushed open the glass door of the girls dorm, walking through the lobby and catching an elevator right before it left. Three other girls dressed the exact same as her stood, postures perfect. Sapphire reached toward the panel, hitting the button for the third floor before waiting for the ascent.

 

A girl was dropped off at the second floor, and two others replaced her. She noticed that the two new people were the hallway managers for the second and third floors. Their jobs were to make sure no one of their floor broke dorm rules, and Sapphire hoped her manager wasn’t getting off with her.

 

She was. She felt Holly Blue’s stare locking onto her as soon as they exited the elevator. Thankfully, she retreated to her room almost immediately, which left the hallways clear. Looking up, she noticed someone by her door, wearing skinny jeans, and a black t-shirt, the lesbian pride flag proudly displayed on it. Students were only allowed to wear casual clothes on weekends and school festivals, so Sapphire knew it had to be a visitor. And she knew exactly which visitor it was.

 

“Ruby!” She called out, running towards her and soon being placed in a crushing hug. Ruby spun her around a few times, and Sapphire laughed to herself, before unlocking the door to her room. The both stepped in, and Sapphire made quick work of winding down as Ruby sat on her bed. She first threw her black backpack to the ground, before sitting on the bed next to Ruby.

 

“I hate how many layers the uniforms have.” Sapphire muttered absentmindedly, sliding the navy blue blazer off of her shoulders. She  followed by untying her black tie, placing it next to the blazer. She then reached down, pulling her black thigh high socks off. Finally, left in just her white button up tucked into a navy blue skirt, she unbuttoned the top few buttons of her shirt. What she didn’t realize was that Ruby was staring the whole time, a slight flush on her face. She leaned forward, flopping down and resting her head in Ruby’s lap.

 

“This week has been hard.” She muttered into Ruby’s thigh. “School is hard.”

 

“Tell me about it.” Ruby responded.

 

“It’s lonely. I feel lonely. Rose isn’t here anymore and Pearl is too distraught to ever hang out with me. The rest of my friends go to public school, and I guess I got used to always having you with me.” She started, and Ruby started rubbing soothing circles on her back.

 

“It’s frustrating. I’m by myself all the time and when I’m by myself I can only think. And all I can think about is how much my life sucks, and how much I miss you, and how pointless everything seems. It just, it sort of makes me feel useless.” Sapphire ranted.

 

“Sapphire, you’re not useless, you’re wonderful. You’re perfect. You’re amazing!” Ruby comforted her.

 

“I don’t feel amazing.” Ruby felt the warmth of tears on her thigh . “I’m never enough.”

 

Ruby seemed to hesitate, unsure of what to do. She settled on moving her hands up to rub them into Sapphire’s hair. After a few minutes she sat up, but Ruby still kept her hands on her shoulder blades.

 

“I don’t really know what it feels like to be loved. I think that's sorta the root of all my frustrations. I feel like there’s nobody out there that will love me.” She whispered, more to herself than Ruby. And that’s when Ruby broke.

 

“No, no! I love you Sapphire! Fuck, I love you so much! You’re my whole world! And I lose my breath every time I see you! I thought I knew what it was like to be in love with someone but nothing could compare to the way I feel about you! I love you, I love you I love you I love you.” She then unceremoniously grasped Sapphire’s shoulders, tackling her into the mattress and crashing her lips into her’s.

 

It took Sapphire a few moments to realize what was going on, and her eyes squeezed tight to accompany the “mmph!” sound that she made. After coming to her senses, she weaved her fingers into Ruby’s hair, kissing back. After a while they had to pull back for air, so they pulled back, breathing heavily. Sapphire thought Ruby looked like an angel, stars in her eyes and the overhead light creating a ring around her head.

 

It was only when she shifted slightly that Sapphire realized Ruby was straddling her. She felt her face flush, and Ruby looked down at her with such an awestruck look.

 

“I love you.” Ruby smiled at her, and it was so cheesy that Sapphire couldn’t help but laugh, pulling Ruby down into another kiss. They were back at it in a matter of seconds, smiling and laughing softly.

 

“Feel better?” Ruby asked, gently rubbing her hands through Sapphires hair.

 

“Yeah, I do, thanks Ruby.” Sapphire smiled up at Ruby. “I love you.”

 

“God, when we get older I’m going to wife you up so hard.” Ruby said.

 

“I think we have to be dating first.”

 

“Well then, Sapphire, will you be my girlfriend?”

 

“Of course.” Sapphire smiled, and Ruby pulled her into another kiss. However, this one was soon interrupted by the door to the dorm opening.

 

“Uhm, come get me when you’re done. And Ruby, visiting hours are over in five minutes.” They both looked up to see Pearl awkwardly standing at the door.

 

“Oh, okay.” Ruby replied, getting over her nerves.

 

Pearl ended up standing in the hallway for 15 minutes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shalalalalala dont be scared, u got the moves prepared, go on and, kiss the gorl


	13. Baby, oh Baby

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> why tf my dads house always so cold.
> 
> tw for domestic abuse 
> 
> i’m going to bed now, much love
> 
> tumblr:not-a-machine

Sapphire had to admit, she wasn’t too comfortable with babies, she just didn’t see the appeal of children.

 

That being said, Steven was unbearably cute. Ruby bounced him in her lap, and he giggled uncontrollably.

 

“He’s a cutie pie, ain’t he.” Bismuth, Greg’s roommate, walked in. She was one of Rose’s oldest friends, and she introduced her and Greg. Sitting across from Ruby and Sapphire on an armchair, she handed Ruby a bottle of formula.

 

“Yes, he is” Sapphire agreed, watching as Ruby fed Steven. She couldn’t help but take out her phone, snapping a quick photo. The moment was ruined shortly after as he became disinterested, spitting out the bottle and reaching for Sapphire. She laughed, pulling the small boy into her arms, and watching as he reached up, tugging on a few of her braids.

 

“He’s a fan of hair, that’s for sure.” Ruby said as she rubbed her scalp. She had gotten her hair done a few days before, replacing her afro with a set of dreadlocks that stopped at her chin. After some convincing from Sapphire she had even dyed a few of them red. Steven found great enjoyment in playing with them.

 

“He has a particular liking for dreads.” Greg walked in from the bathroom. “I’m surprised Bismuth still has any hair if I’m being honest.” He joked.

 

“I had to put my hair up in a bun for the first week” Bismuth laughed. “But he’ll learn eventually.” She smiled down at the soft bundle in Sapphire’s arms.

 

“Well, time for your nap buddy.” Greg cooed, gently taking Steven into his arms.

 

“We should be heading out, thank you for letting us come.” Sapphire said. She didn’t know Greg all too well, and Bismuth looked ready for a nap. By the looks Ruby was giving her, it seemed as if her girlfriend could use one too.

 

Her girlfriend. It had been a couple weeks, but it still felt weird to say it. She giggled quietly to herself, and Ruby gave her a confused look.

 

“Why were you laughing?” She asked after they left the apartment.

 

“Oh, I just remembered that we were dating.” She smiled, and Ruby looked at her before laughing too.

 

“Of course we’re dating!” She exclaimed, picking up Sapphire before carrying her the rest of the way to the car. “I’m glad we’re together. It feels like everything is perfect right now.”

 

“This is the best I’ve felt in a long time, if I’m going to be sappy” Sapphire admitted as Ruby started up her truck.

 

“When we get out of high school, I’m going to wife you up so hard.” Ruby joked, leaning over to take Sapphire’s hand.

 

“You better.” Sapphire joked back as Ruby pulled up to Sapphire’s house. “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?” She leaned over, giving Ruby a quick peck on the cheek.

 

“Of course. Bye Sapph.”

 

“Bye Ruby!” She smiled before grabbing her phone and hopping out of the car. She walked up to her front door before opening it, eager to get to her room and change into comfortable clothing.

 

“Sarafina. I thought we instructed you to stop spending time with Ruby.” She didn’t need to turn around to know it was her mother speaking. But, she did turn around.

 

“You know we don’t like it when you ignore us.” Her father’s cold stare brought a familiar feeling of fear into her heart. She took a deep breath, preparing to answer them, before she didn’t need to anymore.

 

The crash of the wine glass against her head was a familiar feeling. She coughed violently, the scent of alcohol enveloped her. Her father grabbed the collar of her t-shirt, slamming her against the wall before going to leave. Sapphire went to get up, but collapsed down again, crashing back into the glass on the floor.

 

“And sweetheart? Please go change your clothes, you look poor in those.” With that final remark from her mother, they left. Sapphire was glad that they seemed busy, as she was mostly spared. She could see the red blood tinting her hair, and every breath she took in made her feel as if she was getting second hand drunk, so she pulled herself off of the floor, and up to her bedroom to get clean.

 

When she got there, she threw herself on the bed and fell straight asleep. Her head felt fuzzy, and she told herself she’d clean herself up later.

 

She woke up the next morning at 11 am, with a very concerned Ruby at her bedside.

 

“Sapphire? Sapphire? Sapphire!” Her eyes snapped open, and she threw herself to the corner of her bed for protection, before realizing that it was just Ruby.

 

“Oh, good morning Ruby.”

 

“Good morning! I come to pick you up, you don’t answer my texts, your hallway is a mess and when I come to check on you you’re covered in blood, glass, and alcohol, and all you have to say is good morning?” Ruby paced back and forth as she talked, the worry apparent in her voice.

 

“I’m sorry.” Sapphire whispered. “I should’ve answered your texts.” She went to get out of bed but sat immediately back down as her legs gave out.

 

“Sapph, what even happened?” Ruby asked, gently caressing her girlfriends face.

 

“Oh, it’s nothing.” She had only told someone about her situation once, and after the police left her house Sapphire couldn’t walk for a week.

 

Ruby didn’t respond, although her disapproval was obvious. She simply scooped Sapphire up, picking her up and taking her to the bathroom. She sat Sapphire down on the counter, and went to run a bath. When she grabbed the hem of Sapphire’s shirt and looked up for permission, and her girlfiend nodded to her. With shaking hands, Ruby pulled the white t-shirt over her head, ignoring the prominent spots of blood in it.

 

While the situation wasn’t really sexual in nature, Ruby really couldn’t help but blush, as her girlfriend was sitting right in front of her in nothing but a bra and a pair of skinny jeans. She couldn’t help but lean forward, pressing a soft kiss to Sapphire’s neck, then her cheek, then her lips.

 

“You know I love you, right?” Ruby whispered, resting her forehead on Sapphire’s.

 

“Of course.” Sapphire answered quietly. Ruby pulled away, grabbing a pair of tweezers from the bathroom counter and beginning to pluck the glass out of Sapphire’s skin. As she worked, she noticed just how skinny Sapphire was. She had noticed that she was thin, but she could see each one of her ribs cleary, and her collarbones protruded above her shoulders.

 

“Damn, I knew you were skinny, but I didn’t realize you were this skinny.” Ruby mumbled to herself as she worked. Sapphire tensed up, but didn’t answer. Luckily for her, Ruby didn’t press it, and instead moved to Sapphire’s jeans, sliding those off as well. She repeated the process, picking the pieces out of her legs before going and turning off the bath.

 

“May I?” She asked, motioning to Sapphire’s bra. She shook her head no, and Ruby smiled at her. “Okay.” She picked up Sapphire, pulling off her socks before placing her into the bath. She worked quickly, washing first the cuts in Sapphire’s skin, then her hair. She softly ran conditioner through her blue locks, before getting up.

 

“I’ll be right back.” She said, getting up and exiting to Sapphire’s room. She went to her closet, walking in and looking around for where Sapphire kept her pajamas. She first found a drawer with sweatpants, and grabbed a pair of black pajama shorts, before moving on. Figuring everything would all be in the same place, she opened the drawer above it, finding simple t-shirts. She grabbed a navy blue crop top, before once again opening the drawer above it. She grabbed a bra and a pair of underwear to replace the set Sapphire wore, as they were soaked with the bath water. Collecting it all, she went back to the bathroom.

 

“Do you want to talk about it?” She asked, rinsing the conditioner out of Sapphire’s hair.

 

“Maybe later.” Sapphire answered.

 

“Okay, I won’t press it.” I’ll let you get changed now. And with that, Ruby left.

 

 


	14. New Sheets, Sickly Sweet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey. if youre going to read any of my author's notes, make it this one. its important.
> 
> i want to preface this by saying that im only sharing this because of the nature of this book, if it werent for the heavy focus on mental health i would never say anything, but i feel like since the conversation has already been started, im free to continue it. 
> 
> im very stressed out. i know most of you are too, life is hard. i tend to project a lot onto my characters, i think its pretty obvious im not a happy person, based on the way i write sapphire. a lot of sapphires depression symptoms are the same ones i experience. but one i have and dont write about is the extreme lack of motivation. when im going through depressive episodes, its incredibly hard to do anything, even something small like getting out of bed or my homework. im putting all my energy into things i have to do, i barely have any left over for the things i want to do, like my art, and my writing. and thats hard for me, because i love these things. i love bringing content to people and i love seeing that people enjoy the things i create. so ive been considering putting this story on hiatus, just for a little bit. just long enough until i get some of my energy back. but i want your thoughts, because im not sure about going through with it yet. so leave me a comment, tell me what you think. 
> 
> as always, much love, and enjoy the chapter
> 
> tumblr:not-a-machine

Sapphire had definitely been more comfortable in her life. Ruby had picked out clothes that Sapphire had long since retired. She couldn’t remember the last time she had worn a crop top, and normally she would’ve changed, but she felt safe enough with Ruby. 

 

“So.” Ruby began, braiding Sapphire’s hair as they sat on her bed. “Are you going to tell me what happened now?” 

 

“No.” Sapphire answered simply, staring down at her bed. The white sheets were very stained, and she was probably going to have a buy a new set. She knew from experience that blood didn’t come out too easily after a few hours, and she wasn’t willing to use bleach. 

 

“Alright. So, what do you want to do today?”

 

“I kind of want to stay in bed today, but I should probably buy a new set of sheets.” Sapphire said. 

 

“I’ll take you.” Ruby got up, grabbing Sapphire’s hand. ‘Come on.” 

 

“I need to grab a sweater.” Sapphire turned to her closet, before Ruby pulled off her hoodie, and handed it to her. Sapphire took it , pulling the black fabric over her head. The front was blank, but the back read “PERFORMER- RAMONA CHAUDE” in big bold letters. It engulfed her, and Sapphire thought it was perfect. 

 

“Now everyone knows that you’re mine” Ruby pulled Sapphire into a hug, rubbing her nose in her girlfriend’s shoulder. 

 

“I think they knew that anyways, considering I spent 90 percent of my time with you.” Sapphire mumbled back. “Let’s just go back to bed, I’m comfortable.”

 

“No. Come on, we’ve already gotten up.” Ruby laughed, pulling away from the hug. She slipped on her shoes as Sapphire pulled on hers, and they made their way to the car. 

 

“Are we doing anything later this week?” Sapphire asked as Ruby began driving. Her truck was going in for repairs, so she had been driving Sapphire’s car around for the past week. 

 

“I don’t think so, why?”

 

“Lapis’ birthday is on friday, and she invited us to her party.”

 

“I’ll ask, alright?”

 

“Perfect, and tell your mom I said hi, okay? It’s been a while.” Sapphire ended the conversation as they pulled up to the home store, Ruby quickly finding a parking spot. 

“We should redo your room while we’re here, that would be fun.” Ruby suggested. 

 

“Really?”

 

“Sorry, just thinking out loud.” Ruby responded sheepishly. 

 

“No, I think it’s a great idea! I have money, we can go all out. I haven’t decorated my room in a while anyways.” Sapphire grabbed Ruby’s hand, guiding her through the store. “We really should get sheets first though.” The pair looked through the options for a while, before deciding on a light blue set. 

 

“For my blue girl.” Ruby smiled affectionately, smiling at Sapphire. She glanced back, but their moment was soon interrupted. 

 

“Hey guys!” The duo turned to see Amethyst, a couple of throw pillows in one her hands. 

 

“Amethyst, hey!” Ruby smiled, waving her over. Ruby and Amethyst had gone to school together for years, so they were pretty close. 

 

“Hey hey, guy fieri, how you been!” Amethyst elbowed Ruby in the side gently. “And Sapphire! Everyone’s favorite ice queen, I haven’t seen you in ages!” Sapphire giggled softly to herself. 

 

“We’ve been good, thanks for asking.” Sapphire smiled, lacing her fingers into Ruby’s. 

 

“Oh wow, Ruby, when were you planning on telling me that you two made it official. Looks like good ol’ P-dot owes me some money! Woohoo!” Amethyst jumped up, pulling out her phone, presumably to tell Peridot about her newfound debt. 

 

“You guys bet on us!” Ruby exclaimed, shocked. 

 

“Oh yeah, I bet that you guys would be together before Halloween, but Peri wanted to give it till Christmas.” 

 

“Oh dear.” Sapphire adjusted her glasses, giggling quietly. 

 

“Well, I should probably get going, I just needed some pillows for my tattoo parlor.” Amethyst picked up her bag from the ground. 

 

“By tattoo parlor, you mean your living room, right?” Sapphire joked. 

 

“What’s a girl gonna do, I’m 17, you think I can afford a building?”

 

“I don’t think a 17 year old should be running a tattoo business.” Ruby teased. 

“Oh! Speaking of, I’m doing some work at a house party later this week, some chick named Rhodininte is having a birthday party, she needs someone to play music at the gig, so I told her I’d ask you. Sing for an hour, get free booze, get some money, and you could bring the missus. Whaddaya say?” Amethyst proposed. 

 

“You got this girl’s number? House parties usually don’t pay too well.” Ruby pulled out her phone, opening the contacts app. 

 

“Trust me, this one pays well. I’ve done work for her before. Here, lemme put the number in.” Amethyst grabbed Ruby’s phone, typing something in before handing it back. 

 

“Tell me if you’re coming, alright? I’ll pick you up. Now seeya.” Amethyst waved, and both Ruby and Sapphire gave their respective goodbyes. 

 

“I think you should do it.” Sapphire said, throwing their sheets in the cart and beginning to walk. 

 

“I’d only do it if you went with me. I don’t like singing unless I have someone to sing for.” Ruby began drafting a text to Rhodonite. 

 

“Of course I’d go with you. I go everywhere with you.” Sapphire joked.

 

“Damn. Quick response.” Ruby mumbled to herself before pocketing her phone and looking up at her girlfriend. “You doing anything Friday night?”

 

“You know that I never have plans.” Sapphire laughed, grabbing a white fluffy blanket from a display and rubbing her hands over it. 

 

After an hour or so, they checked out, making their way to the car and laughing softly as they talked. Ruby loaded up the trunk, and as she drove off, Sapphire stared out the window, obviously wanting to say something. 

 

“My parents. You know they’re not the best in the world, right?”   
  


“Yes, I know that.” Ruby looked over at Sapphire as they hit a red light. 

 

“Well, sometimes, when they get really mad at me, they, uhm, they.” 

 

“Hey.” Ruby reached her hand out and entwined it with her girlfriend’s. “You don’t have to tell me.”

 

“Well, they’ll...hit me, and sometimes they push me, and, if they’re feeling pretty lazy they’ll, throw, uhm.” She took a sigh before continuing. “They’ll throw wine glasses at me.”

 

“Sapphire.” Ruby began. “Why were they so mad at you.”

 

“They didn’t like what I was wearing.” Sapphire lied. She couldn’t bring herself to say it was because of Ruby, she knew that would make Ruby distance herself from her. 

 

“And the time before that?”

 

“Dad had a rough day at work, he needed someone to take it out on.”

 

“And how often does this happen?” 

 

Sapphire looked down at her lap. “Once or twice a week.”

 

“Baby…” Ruby pulled to the side of the road, unbuckling her seatbelt and reaching over to pull Sapphire into a hug. And she held her girlfriend as they cried, before eventually pulling away. 

 

“Come on, it’s getting dark, we should go. And Sapphy?” Ruby asked. 

 

“Yes?”

 

“You never have to go back there again.”


	15. Party Conversations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay, so, i’m alive! i know this hiatus was a week or two longer than i said, but really needed the extra time, and i’m glad i did it. But now i’m back, rejuvenated, and ready to deliver that sweet sweet Content
> 
> so, i just wanted to mention that there is a part in this chapter where people sign. i’m writing the parts in english for ur convenience, because grammar in asl is different than english grammar. and before you ask, i do know sign language!
> 
> enjoy!
> 
> tumblr: solargold

“Who has a house party on a Wednesday?” Sapphire asked, rifling through her closet for some clothes. Ruby stood at the door, glancing toward it suspiciously every few seconds. Ever since the incident, Ruby had been extra careful, making sure Sapphire was never home when her parents were.

 

“Ruby, hello.” Sapphire walked over to Ruby, throwing her outfit on the floor before waving her hand.  “You don’t need to worry, my parents are across the country right now. You don’t need to watch for them.” Sapphire smiled softly at her, leaning up to plant a quick kiss to her girlfriend’s cheek.

 

“I know, I just want you to be safe.” Ruby sighed.

 

“And I am. Now, no more talking about it.”

 

“You’re right. And to answer your question, I have no idea.  It works out though, Lapis’s party is on Friday, right?”

 

“I think?” Sapphire answered, holding up two almost identical tank tops to Ruby. “Which one?”

 

“You’re wearing those jeans, right? If so, wear the black one.” She responded, sitting down on the bed, as Sapphire changed her shirt. Ruby took the time to admire her girlfriend. She was faced away from Ruby, tucking her shirt into her high waisted jeans. On her feet were a simple pair of black pumps. Ruby knew she was definitely taking the prettiest girl to the party.

 

“How do I look?” Sapphire turned around, clipping her lace choker in the back. This paired with her high ponytail worked to accentuate her neck, and Ruby couldn’t help but blush.

 

“You look perfect Sapphy.” Ruby smiled at her, and she meant it.

 

“Thanks. Let me just put my contact in and we can go.” Sapphire smiled at her,  pulling off her glasses. And then they were out the door.

 

“How long has it been since you’ve been to a party?” Sapphire asked as they stopped at a red light.

 

“I’d say maybe about 5 months. I used to work them all the time last year, but they never really paid well. I’m really doing this more for Amethyst.” She admitted, reaching over to grab Sapphire’s hand.

 

“Yeah, I haven’t been to one in a while either, they’re not really my scene.”

 

Ruby laughed, parking the car on the street. “Then why are you even coming?”

 

“Because you asked me to,” Sapphire answered, unbuckling her seatbelt as she spoke.

 

“Fuck, good enough for me,” Ruby replied, hopping out of the car and walking around to open Sapphire’s door.

 

Ruby played with the ends of her letterman jacket, and it was obvious she was nervous about something. Sapphire was going to prod her before she started speaking herself.

 

“I haven’t had a gig in so long, do you think they're going to like me?” She asked, looking up at Sapphire.

 

“Well, besides the fact that you’re wearing mom shorts, I think you’ll do just fine.”

 

“Hey! These aren’t my mom shorts, they’re my lesbian shorts, thank you very much.” Ruby teased, elbowing Sapphire.

 

“You’re the only person I know who isn’t a mom and wears jean shorts that go all the way to your knee.” Sapphire deadpanned.

 

Ruby smiled at her. “I guess so. Ready to go in?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Sapphire regretted it almost immediately. Some pop song from four years ago was blaring, there were sweaty teenagers dancing everywhere she looked, and the scent of alcohol was almost overwhelming.

 

They entered the kitchen, met with Amethyst tattooing some drunk guy, and a table with every cheap vodka flavor you could imagine. The light was on though, and the atmosphere was a little tamer, so Sapphire was able to relax.

 

“Hey, hotshot!” Amethyst poked her head up, greeting them as they walked in. “Glad to see you made it. And Sapphire, my favorite knockoff Frozen protagonist, how you doin’ girl?”

 

“Good evening Amethyst.” Sapphire giggled to herself. She had always loved Amethyst’s dumb nicknames.

 

“Well, Rhodonite is here somewhere, you have her number, right? Just send her a text, she’ll come to meet you.” Amethyst said, resuming her work.

 

Ruby pulled her phone out of her pocket, shooting the girl a quick text before once again pocketing her phone. A few minutes later a tall girl with bright red hair came in, scanning the room before landing her eyes on Ruby.

“Amethyst, what the hell? You didn’t tell me that the friend you called was Ruby Chaude? Dude we’re all such big fans!” The girl, who Sapphire assumed was Rhodonite, approached them. “Oh! Thanks for coming Ruby.”

 

“It’s fine.” Ruby smiled. “I hope you don’t mind, I brought my girlfriend.” Ruby smiled sheepishly, gesturing to her side.

 

‘I’m Sapphire, it’s nice to meet you.” Sapphire smiled.

 

“Sapphire! Welcome, the more the merrier I say! Well, I set up a makeshift stage on the back porch, so you can just set up there whenever you’re ready. Enjoy yourselves!” Rhodonite smiled at them before disappearing back into the crowd.

 

“Well, she was energetic.” Ruby turned to Sapphire.

 

“Yeah, she was.”

 

“Well, I’m going to go set up now. Go enjoy the party, I’ll text you before I start performing, okay?” Ruby leaned down, giving Sapphire a quick kiss on the forehead before toward the back door. Sapphire grabbed a cup, pouring a small cup of some mystery liquid into it before walking back into the living room.

 

She could only stand the blaring music for a few minutes before she gave up, wandered out to the front porch. There was only one other person there, a girl that looked pretty similar to her, except with peach colored braids that reached her chin. She was sitting on the porch swing, staring at a bluebird.

 

“Mind if I sit with you?” Sapphire asked, approaching the chair.

 

A few seconds passed. Then she answered.

 

“Of course!” The girl looked up, smiling at Sapphire before moving over to make room for her.

 

“Thank you. I’m Sapphire, by the way.”

 

Again, another few seconds.

 

“Padparadscha.” She extended her hand. “I’m sorry for my slow responses, I have an audio processing disorder. I usually communicate in sign language.” Padparadscha explained sheepishly.

 

“Oh! I’m a little rusty, but I do sign, if you’d prefer that?” Sapphire asked.

 

  
“Please.” Padparadscha signed.

 

“Of course. So, how do you know Rhodonite. It’s her birthday, right?” Sapphire signed back.

 

“Oh, I’m one of her close friends. We all got kicked out of our homes sometime during our childhoods, and found each other couch hopping. Eventually Flourite took us in, and we’ve all lived her ever since. How do you know her?’ Padparadscha responded.

 

“I don’t really know her. I’m just here because my girlfriend is performing tonight.”

 

“Oh, Ruby, right? I’ve heard she’s good.”

 

“She’s very good.” Sapphire smiled. “Glad to see we have the same taste in music.”

 

Padparadscha smiled at her. “I think her sets starting soon, you should go.”

 

“You gonna stay out here?”

 

“Yeah, it gets a little overwhelming with all the people inside.”

 

“Here, put your number in my phone, you seem cool.” Sapphire opened the contacts app, handing her phone over. “It was nice talking with you.”

 

Padparadscha waved, and Sapphire went to go find Ruby.


	16. Marine Music

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aight so! I'm sorry this chapter is coming out sorta late, but veterans day really fucked me up, and i thought that it was thursday. i probably wouldnt have the chapter done anyways tbh. 
> 
> speaking of this, i was thinking about changing my update days to saturdays, its becoming increasingly more difficult to update on time. to put it into context, i started this story during summer break, where i had enough time to prewrite chapters. then when i ran out of prewritten chapters i generally was able to have them posted around 3 pm on fridays. now, during the time in my hiatus, my school workload has greatly increased, and i barely have time to write anymore. (well, i suppose i do, but id like to avoid burnout if possible.) if i uploaded on saturdays, id have both friday night and saturday morning to complete my chapters, and this would not only improve quality, but also help get the chapters out at a reasonable time. 
> 
> however, i wanted to ask you guys about it. would you prefer fridays or saturdays? let me know, and don't just say saturdays because i argued for it. theres good reasons to keep it on a friday too. 
> 
> anywaysss, enjoy the chapter! much love!
> 
> tumblr: solargold

Ruby had gained a small crowd outside, dancing along to her music as she played. Sapphire stayed back, watching from afar and sipping her drink. As soon as Sapphire found her place leaning against the wall, Ruby smiled at her, her eyes lit up and a warmth rushed through her features. Sapphire, flustered, smiled back from behind her cup. 

 

“Alright, this is the last song of the night, and this song holds a very special place in my heart. It was the song that started it all. So, I dedicate this song to my love.” Ruby announced, making eye contact with Sapphire. There was a small second of silence, then the first few notes of Ruby Rider began playing. 

 

Those three minutes Sapphire was in a trance. The soft glow of the Christmas lights was probably the least flattering thing in existence, but Ruby was glowing to her. Sapphire took in every small detail that she knew so well. Her glimmering brown eyes, her soft hair, her strong hands, her full lips. Then Ruby played the final chord, set down her guitar, and walked toward her. 

 

“Sapphire! How did I do?” Ruby smiled at her, going to grab her hand. She almost made it before Sapphire was grabbing her face, pulling her in and kissing her. 

 

“I think I’m in love with you,” Sapphire said, going in to kiss her again. 

 

“Holy shit.” Ruby pulled away, her face flushed red. “God, I’m in love with you too.” she leaned forward, resting her forehead on Sapphire’s. Their moment was soon interrupted by someone coughing, obviously trying to get their attention. 

 

“Ruby.” A voice stated. The duo looked up, and Ruby immediately pulled Sapphire to her side, pressing her close. Sapphire didn’t mind, the arm around her waist was comforting, especially since this stranger seemed to be angry. 

 

The stranger stared at them, an unhappy look in her eyes. Sapphire took this moment to take in her appearance. She obviously wasn’t dressed for a house party, wearing a dark blue pencil skirt, and a white button up, she looked more like she had just arrived from an office. The only hint of her youth was her pastel blue hair, chopped cleanly at her neck. 

 

“Well? Are you going to introduce me?” The girl put her hand on her hip, her accent helping to accentuate her anger. 

 

“Oh, uhm, hello. Sapphire, this is Aquamarine, my ex. Aquamarine, this is my girlfriend, Sapphire.” Ruby stuttered, obviously nervous. 

 

“Sapphire, huh? Never heard of you. Ruby, I told you, you gotta stop having flings with nobodies, it’s not going to get you anywhere in the music industry. You worked hard for that record label, didn’t you? Try to keep it.”

“Actually.” Ruby gripped onto Sapphire tighter, and she started getting nervous. It was obvious Aquamarine’s presence was not a welcome one. “I dropped the record label. I prefer to have the final say over my music. And Sapphire is more than just a fling.” 

 

“I don’t know, doesn’t seem like anything more than arm candy to me. Of course, you’d be the kind to flaunt around some unnaturally skinny girl wearing way too much makeup. Oh! And you always had a thing for blue hair, didn’t you.”

 

“You know, she can hear you,” Ruby responded. 

 

“You know, she doesn’t need you to talk for her. Sapphire, what do you have to say about this? Realized that you’re just a rebound yet?”

 

“Come on Ruby,” Sapphire whispered, trying to keep her voice calm and level. “Let’s go home.” And before either of them could say anything, Sapphire grabbed her hand, pulling her into the house and out the front door, only stopping for a second to wave goodbye to Padparadscha. They hopped in Sapphire’s car, Ruby driving off almost immediately. 

 

“Slow down,” Sapphire whispered, leaning over and rubbing her thigh. After a while, Ruby calmed down, slowing the pace of the car and taking deep breaths. 

 

“I’m sorry,” Ruby spoke after a few minutes of silence. “We didn’t have to leave, you know?” 

 

“It’s fine, I was about ready to leave anyway. Do you want to talk about it?”

 

“Aqua is the real reason I stopped doing house parties. I used to do them all the time, they were fun and I enjoyed them. But after I broke up with her, she started following me to them and begging me to take her back. As you saw, she sees relationships as a tool to improve your social status, and nothing more.” Ruby explained. 

 

“Yeah, I saw. What made you want to date her in the first place?”

 

“She’s really good at faking. She did everything right, swept me off my feet, told me everything I wanted to hear. You’ve heard part of this story before, I was ready to propose to her, and I was only a sophomore.” Ruby threw her hands up at that last part, before quickly slamming them back down on the steering wheel. 

 

“Do you miss it sometimes. Back before you knew her true nature, it seemed like everything was perfect.”

 

“At the time, it was perfect. She was everything I needed, and I did miss her at first. When the person you think is your soulmate just waltzes into your life, I suppose it’s expected that you miss them. But I’m glad I found out her true nature.”

 

“I didn’t ask if you missed her. I asked if you missed dating her. I...know I’m a lot of work to be with.” Sapphire pulled her hand from Ruby’s thigh, staring into her lap. 

 

“I wouldn’t have it any other way. I care about you so much Sapphire, you’re my world. I don’t know what I would do without you, problems and insecurities and all.”

 

“Will you stop avoiding the question? Do you miss dating her or not?” Sapphire asked, her voice cracking slightly. It was silent for a few seconds. 

 

“Sometimes, yeah. Not very often, but I do miss it sometimes.” Ruby finally whispered out. It was quiet for a few minutes. 

 

“Was she right? Am I just a rebound?” Sapphire asked, glancing up at Ruby. Ruby didn’t respond, just pulled the car off to the side of the road, yanked out the key, and pulled Sapphire into a burning kiss. She unbuckled their seatbelts, pulling Sapphire into her lap, all while keeping their lips connected. Sapphire sighed to herself, kissing back as Ruby reached for her shirt, glancing up and asking permission to take it off. Sapphire nodded, disconnecting their lips only long enough to allow her shirt to be pulled over her head. 

 

Sapphire felt uneasy, she knew that this wasn’t the right way to solve their problems and Ruby was avoiding yet another question, but as she ran her hands through her girlfriend’s hair, she couldn’t really bring herself to care. She’d deal with it later. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> to clarify, they did not have sex at the end. while most people around their age do (trust me, im a sophomore, i see this shit all the time.) i feel sorta uncomfortable writing or even implying that people that young fucked. also, where this is set (california) im pretty sure the age of consent is 18. (i should rlly know this, i live in cali lol)


	17. Talk to Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alrighty so since i got literally no feedback on the last chapter, i figured that i'd try uploading it on saturdays for a few chapters, and you guys could tell me which you preferred. 
> 
> anyways I don't really have much to say, so just enjoy the chapter i guess!
> 
> tumblr: solargold

The rest of the ride back to the house had been awkward, to the say the least. But Sapphire had already agreed to spend the night at Ruby’s, and she wasn’t about to go home and spent another night lonely in that mansion. She’d rather sleep next to Ruby, back to back as they refused to talk out their little not-really-an-argument.

 

“I love you,” Ruby muttered, opening Sapphire’s door for her. Sapphire wondered why she still opened her door.

 

“I love you too,” Sapphire muttered back, grabbing her hand. She wondered why she still held her hand. They walked in the house, opening the door quietly, as to not wake the children.

 

“How was the party?” Army asked, looking up from her pasta as the duo took off their shoes.

 

“Oh, it was fine,” Sapphire said.

 

“It obviously wasn’t, I could cut the tension in here with a knife.” She said nonchalantly. “Now tell me what happened.”

 

“Aquamarine was there,” Ruby said, showing no emotion.

 

“Yikes. I’m gonna let you two sort that one out on your own. Oh, also, Rueben took all the hot water, there's probably only enough left for one shower.”

 

“You can take it, Ruby,” Sapphire said, making her way toward the stairs, only stopping to wave bye to Army.

 

“No, I’m not.” Ruby jogged a little bit to keep up with her. “You know you always need a shower after any social events.”

 

“I don’t want to take it from you,” Sapphire responded, pointedly walking past the bathroom. She had a brief moment of satisfaction when she heard Ruby opening the door, only for it to come crashing down when she was grabbed by the arm and pulled in after her.

 

“Ruby were not doing this. I’m going to bed.”

 

“Come on, we’ll both just shower together. It’s what we end up doing half the time anyway.” Ruby reasoned, stripping down to just her underwear. She was relieved when she saw Sapphire doing the same. Ruby turned on the water, testing it with her hand before helping Sapphire in, getting in herself shortly after.

 

It was quiet and awkward again for a little while. They washed each other’s hair, Sapphire applied some of her face wash, just like they always did. They both knew they needed to talk about it but neither of them wanted to.

“You know.” Sapphire finally spoke. “I’ve been thinking of getting a tattoo.”

 

“You should. I’ll go with you if you want.” Ruby offered, grabbing Sapphire’s waist.

 

“You should get one with me. Matching tattoos are fun, right?” Sapphire rested her forehead on Ruby’s.

 

“As much as I love you, I’m not getting your name tattooed on me.” Ruby stepped a little closer.

 

“I never said we get each other’s name, I just said that we should get matching tattoos” Sapphire finally planted her lips on Ruby’s. Ruby started to kiss back.

 

Then the water turned cold. With a small shriek, Ruby quickly hopped out of the shower, Sapphire following. They quickly wrapped up in towels, wandering into the bedroom.

 

Ruby handed Sapphire one of her t-shirts and a new set of underwear, and they both changed as quick as possible. Sapphire got into bed, back facing the room. She didn’t know why she was surprised when Ruby wrapped her arm around her waist.

 

“Night Sapphire.”

 

“Goodnight Ruby.”

 

The next morning wasn’t any less awkward. Ruby and Sapphire had both once again slept in, not waking up until around 11.

 

“The school is going to kill me,” Sapphire whispered to herself. “First I sneak out to go to a party, then I don’t even come back for school the next day. God, my parents are going to kill me.”

 

“They’ve already started planning it.” Ruby rolled over, handing Sapphire her phone.

 

“Oh dear, I didn’t realize that you were awake. Sorry.” Sapphire took her phone, checking the messages. “Oh.”

 

“Oh is a little bit of an understatement. They’re out for blood.”

 

“It’s fine, they’re still in Miami for another two weeks.” Sapphire laid back down in the bed.

 

“I don’t know, from the looks of these texts it kinda feels like they flew back early.” Ruby looked over her shoulder.

 

“Why the fuck weren’t you in your dorm last night. Sarafina, you know this is unacceptable. We’re driving to your school right away to talk to you about this in person. ” Sapphire read from her screen.

 

“You can’t go back to school yet, they’ll just come and check you out of school for a few days, You should just stay here,” Ruby said.

 

“Well, I don’t really have a choice. I can’t just not go to scho-” Sapphire’s phone went off again, interrupting her. Sapphire grabbed it, reading once again. “We just got another call from the school. Apparently, you haven’t been in your classes all day either. Where the fuck are you.”

 

“Sapphire, I’m not letting you go there. You’re in serious danger.” Ruby put her foot down.

 

“Who are you to tell me what to do? You know, for someone who’s still in love with their ex, you sure do think you have a lot of authority over me!” Sapphire snapped.

 

The room was silent for a few seconds.

 

“I never said I was still in love with her,” Ruby said.

 

“That’s weird, considering the fact that you miss dating her, and pretty much confirmed that I’m just a rebound! Sounds like your still in love with her to me?!”

 

“I never said you were a rebound!” Ruby’s voice cracked slightly at the end of the sentence.

 

“Well, you never said that I wasn’t a rebound! When I asked you about it all you did was avoid the question. I don’t know how long you think you can get away with drowning me in kisses instead of giving me answers, but I’m tired of it.” Sapphire felt tears forming in her eyes, and she cursed her weakness.

 

“Sapphire, Sapphire.” Ruby rushed toward her, holding her in her arms and wiping a tear. “You’re not just a rebound from Aqua.”  


“Was I a rebound? At first? When we first met, you immediately started flirting with me. Was I just a fling to you?”

 

“Of course not. I dated a couple girls before you, even a guy, anything to try and get over Aqua. At first, I was flirting with you just to flirt, but when I saw how special you were, I backed off. I eventually got feelings for you but didn’t say anything until the day we got together. I wanted to make sure I liked you, and that it wasn’t a false alarm.  I knew that you would be different, I didn’t want to ruin that.” Ruby explained.

 

“That...makes a little more sense,” Sapphire said. “But will you please stop calling her Aqua? It makes me feel like you still like her.”

 

“Of course. Sit up, I really think we should talk about this.”


	18. Blood and Bones

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it snowed a couple days ago! on one hand, i love the snow, but on the other hand, it's been very cold. its been nice though.  
> my choir's having a winter concert next weekend, and finals are in two weeks, but besides that theres not much going on in my life right now. so, enjoy!
> 
> tumblr: solargold

Ruby leaned back against the headboard of her bed, mirroring Sapphire’s body language. 

 

“So, what do you want to know” Ruby asked. 

 

“I...don’t know. I don’t really care about her if I’m being honest, I guess I was just more hurt that you never bothered to mention her. And the fact that you kept avoiding my questions.” Sapphire admitted. 

 

“Yeah I get that. I really should’ve told you, but my life has just been going uphill lately. I really didn’t feel like looking back into the past. But I hurt you, and I’m sorry.” 

 

“I forgive you. And I’m sorry for kinda blowing up on you. I know that you’re not still in love with her.” Sapphrie apologized. 

 

“Well, now I have a much better human to be in love with.” Ruby smiled, grabbing Sapphire’s head and planting kisses all over her face. Sapphire, being incrediblly ticklish, instantly started giggling, but their moment was interrupted by Army walking into the room. 

 

“Glad you two made up. But there’s two very angry looking rich people at the door demanding to know why Sapphire’s car is here.” 

 

“Oh shit.” Ruby murmered. 

 

“It’s my parents.” Sapphire whispered to herself.  She felt her hands begin to tremble, and her mind began to cloud. 

 

“Sapphire, it’s okay, I’m here.” Ruby grabbed her hand, and wasn’t shocked at all when it was immidiately squeezed.  “Army, can you get them to fuck off?” Ruby asked.”

 

“I’ll try.” She said, before exiting the room. Army walked down the stairs, and Ruby could hear her opening the door as she comfoted Sapphire. The quiet only lasted for a few seconds before there was a loud crash of someone falling to the floor, and then two pairs of feet angrily stormibng up the stairs. She heard the bathroom door being opened, and then closed. Then the steps were approaching, and Sapphire’s parents appeared in the doorway. 

 

“Sarafina! What the hell are you doing here! I told you to stop spending time with Ruby!” Her mother yelled. 

 

“Go away.” Ruby growled, shifting to protectively block Sapphire. 

 

“As persuasive as the person who answered the door, I see.” Sapphire’s father said. “Well, we were able to take care of her pretty easily, and you seem way weaker than her.” 

 

“What the fuck did you do to my sister.” 

 

“Nothing to extreme. The knife should only cost a couple hundred to get removed from her leg.” Sapphire’s mother casually remarked. 

 

Ruby froze, hit with a dilemna. One part of her wanted to run and go save her sister, while the other part wanted to stay and protect Sapphire. Her hestitance granted Sapphire’s father enough time to walk forward, pushing her out of the bed and onto the floor, where his foot quickly collided with her chest. She gasped, a sharp pain immiditaly flowing into her side, but she went to pull herself up to protect Sapphire from the next blow. She was too late though, as her reached forward and grabbed Sapphire by the arm, pulling her up as well. 

 

There was a scream from the front of the house. He dropped her. Heart rushing, Ruby ran forward, grabbing Sapphire and running down the stairs. The scene she was met with broke her heart. Army, helplessly lying on the floor, blood pouring down her leg, Rueben at her side, picking her up, and three of her siblings, Navy, Ariana, and Kai standing at the door. They looked up at her, and Ruby mustered up what was left of her energy to speak to them. 

 

“Run!” She shouted, sprinting towards the door. Her siblings following suit. Rueben carried Army to Ruby’s truck, all the younger kids following them. Ruby and Sapphire quickly got into Sapphire’s car, ready to speed over before Sapphire stopped her. 

 

“Ruby, wait!” She pointed to the driveway, where a glass cup had hit Navy in the back. Ruby motioned at Rueben to drive off, and she quickly drove up to her, opening up her door and grabbing Navy. She didn’t even bother to open the door before driving off. 

 

“Why would they hurt her? She didn’t do anything, she’s just a kid!” Ruby asked Sapphire as Navy climbed into the backseat. 

 

“They knew we’d stop for her, it would buy them a couple extra seconds. This is all my fault.” Sapphire sobbed into her knees. “If I had just gone back to school then none of you would’ve gotten hurt.” 

 

“No no no!” Ruby reached over to grab Sapphire hand. “How could you have known? It’s not your fault they’re so violent!” 

 

“Ruby?” Navy interruped them. “What’s going on?”

 

“I’ll tell you later, okay? Does your back hurt?” Ruby responded. 

 

“Yes.” She heard Navy’s soft tears, and tears of her own started forming in her eyes. 

 

“Shhh, I know.” Sapphire turned around. “Try not to breathe too deeply, it only makes it worse. Look, we’re at the hospital now. It won’t hurt for much longer.” 

 

“Okay.” Navy responded, finally seeming to settle down as Ruby parked the car next to her truck, where Rueben was helping Army out. 

 

“As soon as you’re better, you’re explaining to me what the fuck is going on.” Rueben turned to them as they made their way to the hospital entrance. 

 

“Of course.” Sapphire said. “I’m sorry I put you all in this situation.” They group walked into the waiting room, and it was there that Ruby finally passed out from the pain. 

 

She woke up in a hospital bed, with a wrap around her ribs and a throbbing headache. She panicked for a second, before looking to her left and seeing Sapphire asleep. A nurse looked up from Navy’s side, noticing a disturbance. 

 

“Oh, your awake. How are you feeling?”

 

“Where is my sister?” Ruby asked. 

 

“She’s getting the knife removed from her leg right now. You’ll be able to see her during the day, but since you’re all minors and she’s not, you’re not allowed to share a room with her. I’m sorry. Now, how are you feeling.”

 

“Shitty.” Ruby sat up. 

 

“I suppose having a few broken ribs will do that to you. We’ve patched them back up as well as we could, but you’ll just have to take it easy for a little more than a a month. What happened?” The nurse asked. 

 

“I really don’t want to talk about it right now.” Ruby said. “What’s the damage with everyone else?”

 

“Well, lets see here.” The nurse replied, grabbing her clipboard. “Your oldest sister Army has some nerve damage in her leg, so that might never heal fully, but she’ll be able to get out in a few days. Your little sister Navy will be fine to get out in a few days as well, we just need to do some stiches on her back where some of the glass shards cut too deep. You’ll also be able to get out in a few days.”

 

“What about Sapphire?” Ruby asked. 

 

“Well, I’m not sure if I really should be telling you this, but it’s obvious you won’t relax until you know. Sapphire,” The nurse took a deep breath before continuing. “Sapphire has many previous injuries that she’s never had proper medical care for, so we’ll need to take care of those. On top of that, she’s extremely malnourished, which will make the healing process slower. So, if you combine weaning her back onto a healthy meal plan, fixing all her previous wounds, and allowing recovery time for her broken arm, she’ll have to be here for a couple months.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> obligatory fanfiction hospital scene. sue me.


	19. Suspicions and Confirmations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so this week ended up being WAY busier than i originally thought, so i never ended up finishing that chapter. soooo, to make it up to you, i made this chapter twice as long as normal! next week is finals week so i really should be studying, but id much rather write so its whatever. 
> 
> Also, ive started to plan out the end of this story! it probably wont be coming for a while, as theres a LOT of loose ends i need to tie up, but ive started working out how i want things to end and such. its kind of bittersweet, because if i do finish it this will be the first(non one shot) fic ive managed to finish (which is sad, considering ive been writing fic since 7th grade and im in 10th grade, but depression, you know?) but also this thing has been my baby since june. its been with me for over half of 2018 and ill be sad to see it go. 
> 
> anyways, much love!
> 
> tumblr:solargold

The next person to wake up was Navy. She looked over at Ruby, terrified for a moment before relaxing when she saw her sister. 

 

“Oh, hey Navy, how are you feeling?” Ruby looked over, giving a sad smile to her sister. 

 

“I feel better now. What happened. Why were those mean people attacking us?”

 

“I’ll tell you later. Go back to sleep, you look tired.” Ruby responded. 

 

“That’s what you told me before! Now is later!” Navy complained. She prepared to continue her tangent when Rueben walked in. 

 

“Ruby, can I talk to you in private please?” He asked, an angry look on his face. 

 

“Yeah let me just get up with my 3 broken ribs. Sounds like a great fucking idea.”

 

“Language. Navy’s listening in.” Rueben scolded. 

 

“As if you ever gave a shit about that before. Why are you mad at me, I didn’t do shit.” She glared at her brother. 

 

“Here.” Rueben handed his headphones and tablet to Navy before preparing his lecture. 

 

“She’s just gonna pretend to play her music and listen in.” Ruby reasoned. 

 

“Fair enough but it’s the best we got. I want you to break up with Sapphire.”

 

“The fuck, why?” 

 

“From what I gathered she’s the reason we got into this situation in the first place. I get that you want to protect her, but if she wasn’t there she would be the only one hurt, not the rest of us. I’m not gonna stand here and let her hurt my family.”

 

“She didn’t fucking do anything! She’s more hurt than the rest of us! Look at her!” Ruby’s voice raised. 

 

“My statement still stands. If you insist on seeing her, she’s not to come anywhere near the house, and that is final.”

 

“Fine! I had plans to move to Empire City and take her with me anyways!” 

 

“R-ruby?” He stepped back, shock filling his features. 

 

“We were going to start looking at apartments soon! I’m not gonna be there when Beach City finally dies, can’t you see this town is decaying!”

 

“Ruby you can’t do this. We all love you, you can’t leave us! What the hell! When were you planning on telling us!”

 

“Well, I was gonna wait until I graduated, but at this point, it looks like I might be spending my senior year there. At least, unless someone changes his mind about the literal love of my life!” 

 

“Ruby?”  A soft voice spoke up from the bed beside her. “What’s going on? Why are you yelling?” 

 

“Oh. It’s nothing princess, don’t worry about it.” She offered Sapphire a smile which she was pretty sure was unconvincing. 

 

“Okay.” She slowly sat up. “Oh, hello Rueben.” She offered him a small wave. Instead of responding, he simply turned around and stormed out. 

 

“What was that about?” Sapphire turned to ask Ruby. 

 

“I don’t know sweetheart. I think he’s just worried about Army.”

 

“How is she? I feel awful about all of this.” Sapphire buried her hand into her hands. 

 

“No no no! This isn’t your fault!” Ruby strained to reach over, almost falling out of her bed in an attempt to grab Sapphire’s hand. 

 

“Ruby.” A nurse walked in. “We need to check your ribs and see how they’re healing, come on.”  The nurse grabbed her bed, preparing to wheel it out. 

 

“I love you.” Ruby mouthed to Sapphire as she was wheeled out. She didn’t have enough time to see Sapphire say it back. 

 

“So.”  Sapphire turned to Navy. “It’s obvious you’ve been listening in. What was that about?”

 

“Rueben wants Ruby to break up with you because he thinks this is your fault, and then Ruby got all mad and said that she was going to move to Empire City and take you with her, and then Rueben got all mad at her for wanting to leave.” 

 

“Oh. Well, that explains why she didn’t want to tell me.”

 

“Also she said that you’re the love of her life.” 

 

“Oh!” Sapphire knew that Ruby loved her, but she didn’t realize it went that far. 

 

“Sapphire?” Navy suddenly asked. 

 

“Yes?” 

 

“When you and Ruby move to Empire City, can I come with you?” Tears started to form in her eyes and all Sapphire wanted to do was get up and comfort her. “I’m gonna miss Ruby.” She started full on sobbing. 

 

“Oh Navy.” Sapphire sighed. “I think you’re a little too young to move with us, but you can visit whenever you want, I promise.”

 

“Pinky promise?” Navy asked. 

 

“Pinky promise.” Sapphire lifted her pinky in the air, and although they were too far away for them to meet, the sentiment was still there. 

 

“Will you tell me who those mean people are? I keep asking Ruby but she won’t tell me.”

 

“Oh, those are just my parents. Don’t mind them.” Sapphire smiled at her. 

 

“Well, your parents are mean. I don’t like them.”

 

“I don’t either.” Sapphire couldn’t help but laugh. “What time do you get out?” 

 

“Well Ruby says that we all get to leave in a few days, but you have to stay here for a few months.”

 

“Months!” Sapphire shouted, before remembering that she really shouldn’t be worrying Navy. “Oh,  uhm, that...really sucks.”

 

“I know! Ruby is gonna be so mopey and sad without you! She always is, but it’s gonna be super bad now that they won’t let her text you.” 

 

“Yeah, I guess this is gonna suck.” It was then that they rolled Ruby back into the room, and hooked her up into all her machines again. 

 

“Well, you're on course to leave. We’re just going to keep you here for one more night to make sure.” The nurse said. “Now, Sapph-Sarafina? Which name do you prefer?”

 

“Sapphire. The only people who really call me Sarafina are my parents. They changed it when they adopted me, something about Sapphire being unsophisticated.”

“Well Sapphire, now that you’re awake I’d like to check in with you. How are you feeling?”

 

“I’ve been worse.” She responded. “I’ve had a killer headache since I got here, but besides that, I’m pretty normal.”

 

“That’s to be expected. Any other symptoms?” The nurse wrote some things down. 

 

“No, why?” 

 

“We’ve slowly started weaning you back onto a normal diet for someone your age, as you are pretty malnourished. We’ve started with 1200 calories just to avoid complications, but you’ll be slowly worked up to the average 2000 after a few weeks.  And if your body can start handling solid foods soon enough, you might be able to get out of here in halfway through your projected recovery plan, and complete the rest of your recovery at home.” He explained, giving her a comforting smile throughout the whole process. 

 

“How am I getting my food now?” Ruby could see Sapphire panicking, although she couldn’t put her foot onto why. This was a good thing, wasn’t it? Why was Sapphire so distraught? Then again, Ruby had her suspicions about her girlfriend, but they weren’t true. She couldn’t be-could she?

 

“You’re being fed through a feeding tube in your stomach. We’re going to make our first attempt at solid food in three days but the probability of it working will be slow. If you accidentally rip it out, tell a nurse, as it needs to be readministered completely. You’re projected to start gaining weight in about a week, so as long as something doesn’t go wrong you should be back to a healthy 85 pounds in no time.”

 

“Oh, uhm” Ruby saw Sapphire’s hands drift towards her stomach subconsciously, brushing over the insertion point of the tube.  “Say it were to somehow be ripped out, would it hurt?” Sapphire asked. 

 

“It will hurt for about 2 or 3 days depending on how I it’s removed, but we will give you some ibuprofen to help with the pain once we remove it.” 

 

“Thank you.” Sapphire gripped her hospital gown. 

 

“No problem, now little Navy, how are you?” The doctor moved on, and Ruby turned over to Sapphire. 

 

“Sapphire, are you okay? What’s going on? Why does this feeding tube have you so distraught?”

 

“I don’t know what you're talking about,” Sapphire responded. 

 

“Bullshit and you know it.”  Ruby hissed. “I won’t judge you, tell me what’s wrong.”

 

“I was just concerned about having something invading my stomach like this. It’s weird, you know. I just feel weird about it.” Ruby didn’t think she sounded sincere but assumed that she was just letting her fears get to her. 

 

“Okay. Thanks for telling me. I love you.”

 

“I love you too. Sorry for worrying you.” 

 

“I think I’m going to go to bed.” Ruby motioned to the clock, which read 10:30.”

 

“Wow, it’s weird to think we’ve been here for over 24 hours now. Goodnight, I love you.”

 

“Love you too, night.”

 

When Ruby woke up the next morning, Sapphire wasn’t there. There was a sizeable pool of blood where her IV was placed, as well a small pile of goop forming where her feeding tube had been left. She sighed in relief when she noticed that the box of gauze had been opened and not closed, but concerned again when she realized Sapphire was really too weak to keep walking.  She still didn’t even have a sling for her broken arm yet. 

 

Ruby reached over, pressing her button to call for a nurse and waited anxiously. 

 

“Ruby?” The same nurse from before walked in, panic in his eyes. “What’s wron-oh!”

 

“It’s Sapphire! I don’t know what happened, I just woke up and she was gone!” Ruby began crying. 

 

“Shh, we’ll find her, it’s okay.” He sat down at the foot of her bed. “Pack up your things, you’re leaving today. Let us handle this one.”

 

“Okay.” Ruby calmed down a little knowing something was being done. The nurse picked up his radio, turning on the button and beginning to speak. 

 

“This is a code 36, patient 213 in the pediatric ward seems to have escaped. If you find her grab her immediately, but be wary of her left side, as the arm is broken, and her feeding tube has been removed. She’s short, has blue hair, and is extremely underweight. Return her to room 14 if found.” Ruby heard the echo of “Copy!” throughout the mic, and sighed. 

 

“I know, we’ll get her back. You just worry about your own recovery.” The nurse smiled at her. 

 

“Thank you. Why do you think she did this?”

 

“Well, our main suspicion is an eating disorder. I started preparing an evaluation after her behavior last night, but it seems she all but confirmed it for us. We’ll be reporting this to her parents after we diagnose her so we can start discussing recovery options.”

 

“No, you can’t do that!” Ruby shot up, panic surging through her once again. 

 

“What? Why not.” 

 

“Her parents were the ones that did this to us! You can’t let them anywhere near her!” 

 

“Okay. If this is the case, we won’t call them, but we’ll need to contact authorities. Are you willing to make a police statement.” 

 

“I don’t think they’ll believe us. The Froide’s are very, persuasive, let’s just put it that way.” Ruby sighed. 

 

“Well, we’re still legally obligated to report this. Are you willing to make a statement?”

 

“Fine, whatever.”

 

“Perfect. I know this may seem difficult, but it’ll work out, I promise. By the way, your sister Army is making an excellent recovery. She’s been wanting to visit you but she always seems to be busy during visiting hours.”

 

“I miss her.” Ruby laughed, beginning to drift off to sleep again. She didn’t particularly enjoy being awake at 3 am, at least not without Sapphire with her. 

 

“Well, I’m going to let you go back to sleep now. Call me if you need anything.” The nurse turned, walking out of the hospital room. 

 

“Okay, thank you,” Ruby said right before he closed the door. She stared at the wall, tired but not able to sleep.

 

She hoped Sapphire would be alright. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i had to google so many medical questions for this one. my fbi agent is probably concerned as to why i googled so many questions about the pain levels of ripping out feeding tubes and ivs.


	20. Safe, but not home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you might be wondering, sawyer? why didn't you update last week. and the answer is simple, and i have a totally complicated but valid excuse. 
> 
> i didn't fukin feel like writing. that its lol
> 
> anywayssss, i just finished the outline for the last few chapters of this story and ahhhhhh im so sad to have the ending planned out. i know the story isn't over yet, but the finality of finishing the outline is scary. 
> 
> i have a question for you guys though, is a sequel something you would be interested in? cuz i've got some ideas, but im not sure if im gonna follow through yet. so let me know in the comments! much love <3
> 
> oh also, small tw for vomit towards the start of the chapter. its only like two lines tho so dw
> 
> tumblr: solargold

Ruby didn’t end up sleeping again. She stayed up and stared at the wall until 8 am, when the door opened and Lapis walked in, quietly sitting down on Sapphire’s empty bed. 

 

“Hi,” Ruby said, sitting up to turn toward her. While she knew Lapis, they weren’t all too close. 

 

“How long has it been since she left?” Lapis asked, gripping the sheet. 

 

“I’m not sure. I woke up at about 3 and she was gone.”

 

“I should’ve done more” her voice broke slightly. “I knew. I knew and I didn’t say anything. I thought she could get through it on her own.  I’m sorry Ruby, I should’ve told you. She never did listen to me but maybe, if it was you.” 

 

“Lapis, you don’t have to apologize. It’s obvious she didn’t want me knowing. So thanks, for respecting her privacy. I know she’ll appreciate it.” 

 

“You two are really perfect for each other.” Lapis smiled sadly. “I’m glad that Sapph finally found her other half.” 

 

“Yeah. Sorry, we can’t make it to your birthday party by the way. We were all really looking forward to it.” Ruby apologized.

 

“Oh, don’t worry. I moved it to next week for you guys. It works out better anyway, now Peridot can come.” Lapis explained.

 

“How is she, by the way? It’s been a while since I’ve seen her.”

 

“You’re probably better off asking Amethyst that question, considering they’re spending so much damn time together,” Lapis grumbled. 

 

“That’s rough, buddy.” Ruby grabbed a sip of her water from the bedside table.”

 

“Yeah, I don’-” Lapis was quickly interrupted by the door slamming open, their nurse cradling Sapphire in his arms while 3 doctors followed behind him. 

 

She looked awful. Ruby felt like she was going to be sick. 

 

Lapis jumped out of the bed, going to sit with Ruby while the doctors hooked up Sapphire to a bunch of machines she had never seen before. 

 

“Lapis I-” Luckily, Lapis seemed to get the message, grabbing the nearest trash can and shoving it on Ruby’s lap before she could throw up all over herself. By the time Ruby was done spilling her guts out, Sapphire was all hooked up, and the doctors were taking notes. The nurse, no longer preoccupied with Sapphire, went to check up on Ruby. 

 

“Hey, how you feelin’?” He smiled at her, and although it was meant to be comforting it just made the pit in her stomach worse. 

 

“Awful.” 

 

“She’s going to be fine. We’re going to help her. Promise.”

 

“Thanks” Ruby gave him a small smile in return. 

 

“I’ll take this off of you.” He grabbed the trash can off of Ruby’s lap. “Make sure you have all your things in order, you’re being discharged in half an hour.”

 

“Here,” Lapis spoke up. “I’ll help you pack. It doesn’t seem like Sapphire’s waking up soon and you’re in no condition to drive yourself home.” 

 

“But-” Ruby began to protest. 

 

“She’ll be here tomorrow. Let’s go home.” 

 

“Okay.” Ruby sighed, before turning to Sapphire’s bed. “I’m sorry I won’t be here when I wake up. I love you.” She knew it was futile, talking to her sleeping body, but she couldn’t bring herself to leave without saying goodbye. The nurse disconnected Ruby’s IV, and she stood for the first time in 3 days. She got up, legs shakey at first, and walked over to Navy’s bedside. 

 

“Rueben will be here at noon to pick you up, okay? Hang tight until then.”

 

“Okay.” Navy reached her hand out, and Ruby took it, squeezing it tight before saying goodbye. 

 

“You ready to go?” Lapis grabbed her bag, and Ruby followed suit. 

 

“Ready as I’ll ever be, I guess. Come on, let’s go.” Ruby responded. She couldn’t help but look back at Sapphire one last time before leaving the room. She’d just have to visit. Every day. 

 

“So, how do we get to your house?” Lapis asked as they walked to the car. 

 

“I don’t really want to go home, my older brother is kind of really mad at me right now.”

 

“Alright, we’ll go to my flat then.” Lapis popped open the trunk to her car, throwing her purse in before taking Ruby’s bag off of her and also throwing it in.”

 

“I have to stop at the grocery store at the way home, you can wait in the car you want,” Lapis said, driving off. 

 

“Yeah, I haven’t showered in three days and I probably look like shit. I don’t really want anyone seeing me.”  Ruby admitted, checking her phone. She had a couple missed called from Rueben. Whoops. Lapis pulled in the grocery store parking lot, hopping out of the car and returning about 5 minutes later. 

 

“Here, Sapphire said they were your favorites.” Lapis handed her a small bag of gummy worms. 

 

“Wow, Lapis, you didn’t have to do this. Thanks.”

 

“You’re welcome. My couch is a hide-a-bed, so you can stay with us for a few days if you want. Peri hasn’t really been home that much anyway.”

 

“Sorry to be brash, but do you think she’s cheating on you?” Ruby asked, startling even herself. Ruby never apologized for being too straightforward before. The sentence that came out of her mouth was almost word for word something Sapphire would say. Maybe she had affected Ruby more than she had realized. 

 

“Honestly? I think she might be. I keep trying to talk to her about it, but she keeps avoiding the subject.” Lapis sighed. “Peridots always had commitment issues, I don’t know why I thought that this would last longer than it did. I guess I should just be grateful that she managed to stay for a year. How do you manage it with Sapphire? I know she was terrified of commitment before she met you.”

 

“I don’t really know. Whenever Sapphire feels unsure about things she always asks me to tell her to the story of how we first met. She likes to hear it from my perspective. I don’t really know why, but it helps her.” Ruby laughed softly. “God, I’m gonna miss her.”

 

“Well, here it is.” Lapis pulled up to a beachside apartment complex, parking in her designated spot. “Welcome to our apartment.” 


	21. Safety

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heya! happy new year everybody! 2019 has been crazy so far and its only been like 5 days. wildin. anywayyyys, a couple things i wanna talk about
> 
> i forgot to last week, so i changed the chapter thing to say that theyres 32 chapters left in this story. so dont worry, i know ive sorta been talking about the end of this story but we have a good 11 chapters left. also just writing the outline for the last chapter made me cry so uhm get ready for that. 
> 
> also: can we talk about the new su episodes? theyre so good im quaking, im so excited for escapism, even though spotify spoiled who the singer was,,,which, uhm, lame. 
> 
> Also, ive decided that im going to go through with the sequel for this story. i have some really good ideas and im hella excited about it, so i hope you guys will like it!
> 
> anyways, i think thats all i rlly have to say. enjoy!
> 
> tumblr: solargold

Sapphire couldn’t feel anything but numb and hurt and cold. She should’ve grabbed some ibuprofen before she left but she was honestly more focused on getting out of the room before she woke up Ruby. 

 

She didn’t know how long she could hide in that small bathroom stall before she was found but it was her best bet. She couldn’t exactly waltz out of the hospital without a staff member stopping her. 

 

She also didn’t know how long it was until she had passed out. She just knew when she woke up it was back in her hospital room without Ruby. 

 

“Sapphire, you’re awake, good I have some questions for you.” She looked around, only just noticing the small gathering of doctors around her bed. 

 

“So, I wanted to ask wh-”

 

“Where the fuck is Ruby.” She snarled at them, surprising herself. She had never lashed out like that. She was sort of beginning to sound like Ruby. She guessed Ruby had more of an impact on her than she thought. 

 

“I’m sorry?” The doctor asked, stepping back. 

 

“Where the fuck is Ruby. I want to see my girlfriend.” 

 

“She checked out a few hours ago and went home with your friend Lapis. We’ll contact her as soon as we’re done here.” The doctor went to grab his clipboard. 

 

“I’m not saying a word until she’s here.”

 

“Very well. We’ll call her tomorrow. In the meantime, we have you on 24/7 watch, so don’t try something like that again.” The doctor then turned and walked out, leaving Sapphire alone with the nurse. 

 

“Ruby was worried sick about you, you know.” He smiled at her. “She really loves you.” 

 

Sapphire smiled back, and she was able to reply with certainty. “Yeah, I know.”

 

Ruby had just settled down on Lapis’ couch when she got the phone call. 

 

“This is the Beach City Community Hospital. We need you to come in as soon as possible. A patient by the name of Sapphire Marie Froide is being rather uncooperative, and is refusing to comply with any of the hospital staff’s requests until you show up.” 

 

“Of course! I’ll be there soon.” Ruby shot up off the couch, running to grab her shoes while hanging up the phone. 

 

“Woah Woah Woah!” Lapis entered from the kitchen, stopping her. “I know you want to go see Sapphire, but you need to calm down first. You’re still way too zazzed to go talk to her. We’ll go in half an hour.”

 

“You’re right,” Ruby admitted, sitting back down on the couch. She grabbed the cup of tea from Lapis’ hand. “I’m just worried about her, you know?”

 

“I get that. But you need to be mentally stable when you talk to her. I know it’s a difficult time for her, but it’s also a difficult time for you. You need to remember to take care of yourself as well.”

 

“Thank you.” Ruby smiled at her, beginning to settle down. She enjoyed her 45 seconds of silence before the door was very aggressively slammed open, and Peridot and Amethyst entered the room, laughing rather loudly. 

 

Lapis gave them a few more seconds before clearing her throat rather loudly. Both girls stopped, suddenly remembering the world around them. 

 

“Glad to see you actually home Peridot.”

 

“Hey love.” Peridot smiled at her. “How are you?”

 

“Cut the shit. Where the fuck have you been for the last three days.” 

 

“I’ve just been at Amethyst’s, don’t worry! Who’s this lil midget that you’ve got with ya?” 

 

“Peridot that’s Ruby. You’ve gone to school with her since 7th grade, what’s wrong with you?”

 

“Nothin’!” Peridot laughed. 

 

“Oh my god. You’re totally high, aren’t you?” Lapis realized. 

 

“Just a lil bit. Go easy on her Waterworks, a little weed isn’t bad for anyone.” Amethyst chimed in. 

 

“Ugh, I can’t deal with this right now. Ruby, are you ready to go?” 

 

“Yeah.” Ruby got up, once again putting her shoes on. She could cut the tension in the room with a knife, and quite frankly she didn’t want to be there anymore. 

 

“Sorry about that.” Lapis sighed once they got into the car.

 

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll talk to Amethyst if you want, this is kind of going too far.”

 

“Thank you.” Lapis smiled at her, ignoring the aggressive honking of the car behind them. 

 

They drove in silence for a little while, before finally arriving at the hospital. 

 

“I’ll stay in here. She only needs you right now, go talk to her. If she wants me to come to visit her once you two are done I can.” 

 

“Thank you.” Ruby smiled at Lapis before running into the hospital. The nurse working the front desk recognized her from that morning, nodding towards the elevator when Ruby ran in. After what felt like centuries, Ruby finally found herself in Sapphire’s room. 

 

“Sapphire!” 

 

“Ruby!”

 

Ruby rushed forward, grabbing Sapphire’s face and pulling her into a burning kiss, which Sapphire returned eagerly. After a few seconds, Ruby pulled her head away. 

 

“Are you hurt?” Ruby asked, resting her head on Sapphire’s forehead. 

 

“No, no, I’m okay. Are you hurt?”

 

“Who cares?” Ruby pulled back to look her in the eyes.

 

“I do!” Sapphire pulled her back into another kiss, and when they broke away they both began laughing, Ruby leaning her head into her girlfriend's collarbone.

 

“I was so worried about you,” Ruby admitted. 

 

“I know you were, I’m sorry.”

 

“But at least you’re okay.” Ruby leaned up, kissing Sapphire on the cheek. “I’m gonna wife you up so hard one day.” 

 

“You better.” Sapphire laughed, scooting over on the bed to make room for Ruby. 

 

“So.” Ruby lied down next to Sapphire, wrapping her arm around her shoulders. “I was looking at some apartments in Empire City, and I bookmarked a few I think you would like.”

 

“So soon?” Sapphire asked, cuddling into Ruby’s side. 

 

“Yeah, I know we originally talked about waiting until after high school to move but I figured that we should probably get you out of your house as soon as possible, and honestly I think it’s about time I get out of mine.”

 

“Why?” Sapphire asked, a concerned look on her face. Ruby’s heart almost burst at how adorable it was.

 

“Rueben said some things to me that really crossed the line,” Ruby admitted. 

 

“Try and talk it out with him first, okay? He really cares about you.” Sapphire smiled at her. 

 

“Alright.” The nurse looked up from his clipboard in the corner. “Visiting hours are almost over, you’ve gotta go now, Ruby.” 

 

“Thank you,” Ruby said before turning to Sapphire. “I love you, and I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

 

“Okay.” Sapphire kissed her one last time, and then Ruby left. 

 

They both felt much better. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i had to incorporate that iconic ruby and sapphire scene, okay? its too cute not to.


	22. Forgiveness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i KNOW it's like 10 pm and it's not saturday in most parts of the world but it is saturday in this part of the world so this chapter isnt late fuck you kahfkdshf. 
> 
> anyways i go back to school on monday, so ew. i had 3 weeks of freedom from my bitchass math teacher, i dont know what im going to do when i have to see her on a daily basis again. 
> 
> also, i kinda did something bad and didn't even start writing this chapter until today. (which is why its so late lol) ive just been on break for so long that i didn't realize that today was saturday already. so when i started writing this chapter it was like 4:30 ish, and the sunset was really pretty, so i took a picture and ill slide it in before the chapter hafdhasdf
> 
> finally, to celebrate 10 chapters left, im gonna do an AMA. ill always answer questions that you guys leave down in the comments, but this time im going to answer anything, no matter how uncomfortable of a question it it. that being said, if a question is TOO inappropriate or something i wont answer it. so go nuts lol
> 
> enjoy!
> 
> tumblr:solargold

 

Ruby walked into Lapis’ apartment, just catching Amethyst as she was about to leave. 

 

“Hey, Ame, can I talk to you for a second?” Ruby asked, grabbing her arm. 

 

“Sure hotshot, what’s up?”

 

“Listen, I’m gonna be blunt, you’re kinda overstepping some boundaries with Peridot.”

 

“How?” Amethyst asked, a look of confusion on her face. 

 

“Lapis has barely seen Peridot in the last few weeks, and you’re off with her doing dangerous things with her. Peridot is only a sophomore, this shit can be pretty dangerous.” 

 

“Well, if she’s mature enough to move out before she’s even an upperclassman then I think she’s mature enough to drink a little.”

 

“You know damn well why she moved out so early, and it’s definitely not because of fucking maturity.” Ruby felt herself get angrier, and while she tried to calm herself down all her anger management lessons seemed to have gone out the window.

 

“Yeah, I know.” Amethyst looked down guiltily. “I promised her I wouldn’t tell you this, but it has kind of gone to far, so I suppose it’s time.” 

 

“What's up?” Ruby asked her. 

 

“Peridot came to me a couple weeks ago and admitted that she sort of felt like she’s missing out on her teenage years. We both know she didn’t have much of a childhood, and she told me she at least wanted a ‘normal’ teenhood to make up for it. So I’ve been taking her out to do all the stereotypical teenager rebellious things. That’s sorta the least I could give her, you know?” Amethyst admitted. 

 

Ruby sighed before responding. “Fuck.” 

 

“Yeah.” Amethyst laughed, “I’ll tell her that she needs to talk to Lapis next time they talk, okay?”

 

“Thank you. Seeya around.” Ruby turned to enter the apartment.    
  


“Peace hotshot.” Then Amethyst left, and she was alone. She threw herself on the couch, sighing as she inhaled the scent of the cushions. 

 

“Everything good?” Lapis asked, walking in and sitting on the couch next to Ruby’s feet. 

 

“I talked to Amethyst. She says she’ll get Peri to talk to you.” Ruby said although it was muffled by the cushions. 

 

“Thank you.” Lapis smiled at her. “You nervous about tomorrow?” 

 

“I’m a little nervous. I kinda feel like they won’t believe me and they’ll make Sapph go back to her parent's house.”

 

“I know, but it’ll all turn out fine, promise” Lapis smiled at her. 

.

“Thanks”

 

Ruby was a nervous wreck the next morning. Lapis had tried every anti-anxiety trick that she knew and nothing was helping. Finally, finally, after too long of a morning, the clock hit 10. 

 

“Alright, you ready to go?” Lapis asked keys in hand. Ruby made a mental note to go get her car from the repair shop. 

 

“I have been for two hours.” Ruby jumped up from the couch. 

 

“Tell me how it goes, okay?” Lapis asked her as they approached her car.  Ruby just nodded, too nervous to talk. She didn’t say anything in the car ride either, just tried to focus on the music playing. 

 

Eventually, Lapis pulled up into the police station, and Ruby got out of the car. 

 

“I’ll be waiting here. Just come when you’re finished” 

 

“Thank you” Ruby smiled at her, before shutting the door and walking up to the building. She sat down in one of the chairs, waiting for the receptionist to finish talking to one of the officers. Once she was done, so turned to Ruby, with a too-big smile on her face. 

 

“Hi, what can I help you with?” She asked. 

 

“Oh.” Ruby got up, walking to the desk. “I was supposed to give a statement today, I’m scheduled for 10:30. 

 

“Ramona, right? Oh, sorry, it says here that you go by Ruby.” 

 

“Don’t worry about it, people do that all the time.”

 

“Well, you’re right on time. Wait here and we’ll call you in when we need to.”

 

“Alright.” Ruby settled back down, pulling out her phone and absentmindedly browsing twitter until she was called in. She got up, pocketing her phone and following the officer into one of the back rooms. 

 

“Welcome.” The officer smiled at her. She understood that the gesture was supposed to be comforting but the whole building screamed hostility. She was led to a table and told to sit down, so she did. Then a piece of paper was placed in front of her, the lines all numbered evenly. Next to them was a ballpoint pen. 

 

“Write down everything that happened the day you were hospitalized, as well as any important and relevant events that happened leading up to the crime. Don’t exclude anything.”

 

“Okay,” Ruby responded, beginning to write. She poured out everything she could, and 15 minutes later she looked up at the officer. 

 

“Okay, I’m done.”

 

“Perfect.” The officer grabbed another piece of paper, exactly like the last one in front of her. “Write it all down again, and make any modifications that you need to make.” Ruby picked up the pen, writing it all down again, adding a few more things where she needed to, before finally handing it to the officer. 

 

“Alright, wait here,” The officer got up, going to another room, and returning in 5 minutes. 

 

“Would you like to try again, and be honest this time?” The officer questioned her. 

 

“I-I was being honest!” Ruby leaned back, stunned by the sudden aggression. 

 

“Well, I reviewed the statement and frankly, I don’t believe you.  The Froide’s have donated thousands to anti-child abuse programs, why would they do all that just to turn around and abuse their own kid?  Since she is over the age of 16, we couldn’t really do anything if she ran away, as long as her mental health is stable, but we won’t be taking any legal action for the rest of the day. That will be all.” She stared down at Ruby and their height difference made the interaction somehow even more intimidating. 

 

“Thank you.” Ruby stuttered out and left without saying another word. She hopped into the passenger seat of Lapis’ car, sighing as Lapis pulled out.

 

“How did it go?”

 

“Awful. They didn’t believe me, but they said that since Sapphire was 16 they couldn’t really do anything if she moved out. However, if she had any mental health conditions then they could, so we’re just going to hope that they don’t find out about her condition.” 

 

“Yeah.” Lapis sighed, “Little victories I guess.” 

 

“I just don’t know where we’ll go. Rueben doesn’t want her anywhere near the house and I know Army will take his side. They’ve agreed on everything for all 16 years that I’ve known them.” 

 

“You can stay with us. Well, me. Unless Peridot decides to come back home.” 

 

“I really hope this all works out.” Ruby smiled at her.

 

“Thank you. So anyway, what do you want for lun-” Lapis was interrupted by Ruby’s phone ringing. She pulled it out of her pocket, glancing at the caller. 

 

“It’s from Rueben.” She whispered. Her phone rang in the silent car for a five more seconds before Lapis turned to her. 

 

“Answer it.” And that’s exactly what she did, Lapis returning her eyes to the road as Ruby pulled the phone up to her face. 

 

“Ruby?” He asked. 

 

“Yes?”

 

“I...heard that you got out of the hospital. How are you feeling?” 

 

“Better, why did you call?” Ruby asked, trying to get past the awkward small talk. 

 

“I’m sorry, okay? I know how you feel about Sapphire and even though I don’t like her I never should’ve said that to you, especially at such a sensitive time. Things have never been awkward between us, I don’t want it to be like that forever.” 

 

“I forgive you.” Ruby felt her eyes misting up. “I missed you, damnit.” 

 

“I know you probably don’t want to come home right now, and honestly I get that, but, visit sometimes, okay?”

 

“Okay, I will. I gotta go, we just parked, but I’ll talk to you later?”

 

“Love you Ru.” 

 

“Love you too.” And as Ruby hung up, she turned to Lapis. 

 

“That wasn’t that bad, right?” Lapis teased her, turning toward the elevator. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idk if you could tell because it was kinda subtle but the police officer that interviewed Ruby was Holly Blue Agate lol. the zoo was one of my fav arcs just because of pearls fuckin "that will be all" right at the end. that was one of the coolest moments in the show akhfkjsadhf


End file.
